The US Treasury recently acknowledged the legitimate uses of crypto mixers, including their role in protecting consumer privacy. However, days later, federal prosecutors in Manhattan moved to bring back Roman Storm, co-founder of the widely-used Tornado Cash, for a retrial.
A Split Jury, A Second Chance
This month, Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton filed a letter to federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla, requesting a retrial for Storm on two counts where jurors had previously deadlocked. Clayton’s office is aiming to schedule trial dates between October 5 and 12, anticipating the proceedings to last for around three weeks.
While prosecutors expressed readiness to proceed as early as spring, Storm’s defense team has indicated unavailability until late 2026, further complicating the timeline.
Last August, a jury convicted Storm on one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business but could not reach consensus on the other two counts concerning money laundering and sanctions violations. A hung jury does not equate to an acquittal, and thus prosecutors retain the option to retry the case.
Crypto Crime: 40 Years On The Line
The stakes are monumental. Storm has publicly stated that a conviction on the retried charges could result in a federal prison sentence of up to 40 years. He bluntly articulated his position on social media, asserting that he merely wrote open-source code for a protocol he does not control, involving transactions he never personally managed.
Amanda Tuminelli, legal chief at the DeFi Education Fund, criticized the retrial decision as “incredibly disappointing,” noting what she described as prosecutorial missteps, including calling irrelevant witnesses and a lack of understanding of the blockchain forensic evidence that was central to the case.
“A jury already couldn’t agree this was criminal,” Storm noted. “But the SDNY prosecutors want to keep trying with the hope of getting a different answer.”
Storm is now seeking to have his earlier conviction overturned, arguing that the government has failed to prove his intention to assist illicit actors in laundering funds through Tornado Cash.
In a notable contradiction, earlier this year, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo stating that the Justice Department “is not a digital assets regulator” and would cease pursuing cases that effectively impose regulatory frameworks on the crypto sector. Storm pointedly remarked that the same DOJ is now moving forward with his retrial.
“Same country, same DOJ,” Storm quipped. “Just filed to retry me anyway.”
As legal battles loom, reports have surfaced indicating that Clayton’s retrial filing coincided with the Treasury Department’s recognition of the lawful applications of crypto mixers, including their ability to maintain spending privacy for users.
Whether this acknowledgment will impact Storm’s defense strategy remains to be seen, as his motion to vacate the initial conviction is set to be argued in early April. A ruling is expected before a retrial date is finalized.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
