- The case centers on Tornado Cash, a blockchain privacy protocol that allows users to mix cryptocurrency transactions to obscure their origin.
- Roman Storm’s first trial lasted four weeks and ended with a hung jury after jurors could not agree on the remaining charges.
- Storm’s defense maintains that he only wrote open-source code and did not control how third parties used the protocol after deployment.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has decided to retry Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm after a federal jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on key charges during his first trial.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York recently filed a letter requesting that the retrial take place in October. The government is seeking another attempt to secure convictions on two counts in Storm’s indictment: money laundering conspiracy and violations of U.S. sanctions law.
Storm’s initial trial lasted four weeks and concluded with a deadlocked jury on those charges. All twelve jurors heard lengthy testimony and evidence related to the Tornado Cash protocol, a blockchain privacy tool – or “crypto mixer” – that allows users to obscure transaction histories.
DOJ Pushes Ahead After Hung Jury
The government’s decision to retry the case underscores the broader legal debate over whether developers of decentralized software can be held responsible for how others use their code. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently cited that as the primary reason the CLARITY Act should not pass.
Prosecutors argue that the service was used to launder funds linked to cybercrime and sanctions violations. Defense attorneys contend that Storm merely wrote open-source software and did not control the protocol once it was deployed.
Roman Storm Plans On Keeping Fighting The Charges
“A jury of 12 Americans heard four weeks of evidence and deadlocked,” Storm wrote in a post X. “No verdict on money laundering and no verdict on sanctions violations. The government’s response? Try again to make writing code a crime.”
The development comes after the U.S. Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash in 2025. In a report to Congress under the GENIUS Act earlier this week, Treasury acknowledged that digital asset mixers can serve legitimate purposes of financial privacy.
Storm said he plans to continue fighting the charges, though he acknowledged the financial strain of another federal trial. “Four weeks of trial. A hung jury. Now they want to do it all over again,” he wrote. “I will never stop fighting for freedom.”
The overall cryptocurrency market rose 3.8% in the last 24 hours to $2.48 trillion after Trump signaled that the war with Iran might be “complete” and over “very soon.” Bitcoin (BTC) rose 4.6% in the last 24 hours to around $70,800. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on Stocktwits continued to trend in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day.
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