Judge Rejects DOJ Request for Review in Tornado Cash Developer Case
The developer and co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, is preparing for a trial scheduled for July 2025 in the United States. Despite a request by Storm's legal team for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to review additional records, Judge Katherine Polk Failla refused to order such a review, citing the department's assertion that there is no additional material of relevance and the judge's belief that the material was not exculpatory.
The trial will proceed amidst a recent narrowing of charges against Storm by the DOJ, following a policy memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that advises against pursuing cases in regulatory ambiguity. The DOJ has withdrawn a portion of one charge related to Storm's alleged failure to register his business as a money transmitter. Storm still faces three main conspiracy counts: conspiracy to engage in money laundering, conspiracy to breach sanctions laws, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, though the language regarding "unlicensed" has been clarified and narrowed.
Prosecutors intend to prove that Storm knowingly transmitted funds derived from criminal activities. Storm's defense attorneys have argued that the prosecution should align with the new DOJ policy and have called for the case’s dismissal. Previously, in February 2023, a Dutch court released Alexey Pertsev, another Tornado Cash developer who was arrested in August 2022 in Amsterdam.
The DOJ's focus in this case is on alleged "bad actors" within the crypto mixing industry who exploit such solutions to aid illicit activities, rather than on the platforms themselves. The trial will provide a significant test for the regulation of cryptocurrency mixing services, particularly in relation to money laundering and the enforcement of sanctions laws.
[Enrichment Data] The withdrawal of the charge related to the registration as a money transmitter business came after an internal review and in response to the April 7, 2025 memo, which advised against pursuing charges that rely on unclear regulations or that would constitute regulation by prosecution. Storm still faces three main conspiracy counts: conspiracy to engage in money laundering, conspiracy to breach sanctions laws, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Prosecutors intend to prove that Storm knowingly transmitted funds derived from criminal activities.
The trial for Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, is approaching on Ethereum's general-news calendar in July 2025. He is charged with three main conspiracy counts: money laundering, breaching sanctions laws, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Despite the court's refusal to review additional records, Storm's legal team argues for alignment with the DOJ's new policy, calling for the case's dismissal. The DOJ's focus on this case is on "bad actors" within the crypto industry who exploit mixing services for illicit activities. This trial will act as a test for the regulation of such services, particularly in relation to crime-and-justice issues like money laundering and sanctions laws.
