The U.S. Department of Justice has submitted a request to the New York federal court for a re-trial of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, focusing on two criminal charges that did not receive a unanimous jury verdict in the initial trial: conspiracy to commit money laundering and violation of sanctions laws. The prosecution plans to initiate the re-trial process in early October this year, but the final court date still requires approval and consideration of multiple motions presented by the defense.
Roman Storm was convicted in August 2025 of operating an unlicensed money transmission business, but the money laundering and sanctions violation charges related to Tornado Cash remain unresolved due to the jury's inability to reach a consensus. This re-trial will focus on the legal boundaries of crypto privacy tools.
Crypto mixers like Tornado Cash obscure transaction paths by pooling user funds and redistributing them to new addresses, making on-chain tracking extremely difficult. Although the U.S. government has long viewed such tools as means to evade regulation, the Treasury Department recently updated its stance, acknowledging that privacy technologies have legitimate uses in protecting personal financial information, business payments, charitable donations, and everyday consumer data.
This judicial development has sparked widespread controversy within the crypto industry. Policy advocate Amanda Tuminelli pointed out that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence in the initial trial, highlighting significant legal and technical flaws in their charges. The industry is concerned that if the re-trial continues with the logic that “tool developers must be responsible for user behavior,” it could pose a systemic threat to the design principles of decentralized protocols.