What to know : Federal prosecutors asked a judge to schedule an October retrial for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm on two unresolved counts after a jury deadlocked on money-laundering and sanctions charges. Storm, who was convicted in August of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and remains free on bail, is meantime seeking a judgment of acquittal, with oral arguments on that motion set for April 9. Storm and his defense team argue that a retrial is premature and contend the split verdict shows jurors doubted the government’s effort to criminalize writing code for crypto-mixing services that can have lawful uses.
U.S. prosecutors asked a federal judge to set an October date for the retrial of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on two unresolved criminal counts after a jury failed to reach unanimous verdicts during the original hearing, according to a letter filed Monday in the Southern District of New York.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, U.S. attorney Jay Clayton, a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, asked for a date now to "to avoid further unnecessary delays," even though Storm, who is currently free on bail, has a pending motion for a judgment of acquittal. Oral arguments on that motion are scheduled for April 9.
Storm is a co-founder of Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer designed to obscure the origin and destination of blockchain transactions. In August, a jury convicted Storm on one count tied to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and failed to agree on verdicts for two other charges, leaving alleged violations of money laundering sanctions law unresolved. He is currently free on bail while awaiting further proceedings.
Storm criticized the planned retrial in an X post on Tuesday, saying the jury’s split decision reflected uncertainty about the government’s case.
“A jury of 12 Americans heard four weeks of evidence and deadlocked: no verdict on money laundering, and no verdict on sanctions violations,” Storm wrote. “The government’s response? Try again to make writing code a crime.”
Storm also referred to a U.S. Treasury report acknowledging that mixing services like Tornado Cash can serve lawful purposes on public blockchains. The report came after years of opposition to crypto mixers.
Defense lawyers told prosecutors that setting a trial date before the April motion is resolved would be premature.
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