The Department of Justice has dismissed Roman Storm’s recent bid to overturn his criminal charges, with prosecutors signaling they are prepared for a potential second trial. In a letter dated Tuesday, federal attorneys urged Judge Katherine Polk Failla to ignore a recent Supreme Court decision, which Storm’s legal team argued might influence his case.
Charged in 2023, Roman Storm faced accusations of managing Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based service that masked transaction details on the blockchain. Prosecutors contended that despite the software operating autonomously, Storm knew it was being misused for money laundering by malicious actors.
A Manhattan jury last summer convicted Storm of illegal money transmission but did not decide on additional charges of money laundering and sanctions evasion. An appeal followed, and recently, the Trump DOJ has sought to retry him on conspiracy charges related to these allegations.
However, a potential reprieve seemed possible when the Supreme Court ruled on March 25 in an unrelated case involving Cox, an internet service provider, stating it could not be held accountable for its users’ illicit activities. Storm’s lawyers argued this ruling should exonerate him as well, citing similarities with their client’s situation.
U.S. attorneys from New York’s Southern District promptly countered in a concise letter that the Cox decision was irrelevant to Storm’s circumstances. They highlighted Cox’s proactive policies against copyright infringement and its broad service use cases. Conversely, they noted Storm did not prevent known misuse of Tornado Cash despite his awareness.
The DOJ also claimed there were no significant noncriminal applications for Tornado Cash, a stance likely to frustrate privacy advocates who argue that all digital transaction participants deserve confidentiality.
In their letter, prosecutors concluded that Storm’s actions bore no resemblance to Cox’s situation and maintained the civil copyright case had no relevance. This pursuit comes despite the Trump administration’s prior pro-crypto rhetoric, which initially suggested ceasing prosecutions against crypto privacy developers—a promise met with skepticism as multiple developers have been incarcerated since.