The US Department of Justice is standing firm on its decision to pursue federal criminal charges against Roman Storm, the developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash. The decision comes despite a recent internal memo hinting at a potential shift in the agency’s approach to cases involving crypto mixing services.
Storm is facing charges of money laundering and sanctions evasion, with federal prosecutors alleging that he conspired to launder funds, evade US sanctions, and operate an unlicensed money transmitting business through Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based coin mixer that obscures the origin and destination of crypto transactions.
His trial is scheduled to start in a Manhattan federal courtroom in less than two months. Recent court filings show that prosecutors have agreed to drop one part of the charge related to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, citing inconsistencies with federal guidelines.
The tension between law enforcement and developers of decentralized software is evident in this case, with some arguing that technologists building neutral privacy tools should not be held to unreasonable criminal standards. Industry leaders, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, continue to support Storm.
Despite a reported shift in policy towards targeting individuals using crypto tools for criminal purposes rather than prosecuting the platforms themselves, the DOJ is maintaining its charges against Storm. This decision follows a previous ruling by US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla that the use of computer code to facilitate money laundering is not protected under the First Amendment.
Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 for allegedly facilitating over $7 billion in illicit transactions. However, the protocol was quietly removed from the sanctions list by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in March, following a federal appeals court decision that immutable smart contracts cannot be sanctioned as property.
Storm’s co-developer, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to over five years in prison by a Dutch court last year but was released under electronic monitoring in February pending an appeal.
As of press time, the DOJ, Storm, and his attorneys have not responded to requests for comment on the case. It remains to be seen how this high-profile trial will unfold in the coming months.