US federal prosecutors have asked a Manhattan judge to retry Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on two conspiracy charges after a jury deadlocked on them last August. The request came in a letter filed Monday in the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors asked Judge Katherine Polk Failla to set a retrial date for October 5 or October 12.
The government plans to retry Storm on counts one and three of a superseding indictment. Those charges involve conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions evasion. Together, they carry a potential maximum prison sentence of 40 years.
A Manhattan jury previously convicted Storm of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Jurors failed to reach a verdict on the two heavier charges after four days of deliberations.
Roman Storm reacted publicly after the government letter became known. He wrote on X that his legal defense requires funding. He said supporters of financial privacy and software speech should pay attention to the case.
The prosecution request follows a complex trial that began during the Biden administration. Jurors reached a split verdict in August after extended deliberations and an Allen charge from the judge encouraging further discussion. The jury agreed Storm conspired to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Yet jurors could not agree on conspiracy counts tied to money laundering and sanctions evasion.
Those unresolved charges now form the basis of the proposed retrial. Prosecutors asked the court to schedule proceedings during the window Storm’s defense previously listed as available.
The Tornado Cash protocol became a central issue in the case. The US Treasury blacklisted the service in August 2022. Officials alleged the protocol laundered about $7 billion since 2019. Authorities also linked part of the activity to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Later, an appellate court questioned the Treasury Department’s authority to sanction open-source smart contracts. As a result, regulators lifted the sanctions in 2025.
Storm’s prosecution drew strong attention from the cryptocurrency industry. Several blockchain groups and developers argue that writing open-source software should not equal direct financial wrongdoing. Crypto supporters have donated millions of dollars to support Storm’s legal defense. Some technology leaders have also voiced support for privacy-focused software tools.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote earlier this year that he believes privacy remains essential. He described tools like Tornado Cash as defenses against large-scale data exploitation.
Meanwhile, the Solana Policy Institute published an open letter supporting stronger legal protections for software developers. The organization also pledged $500,000 toward Storm’s legal defense alongside Tornado Cash co-developer Alexey Pertsev.
In addition, Institute CEO Miller Whitehouse‑Levine criticized the retrial effort in a Monday post on X, saying the move increased the urgency for new federal legislation. Could the outcome determine how courts treat developers who create non-custodial financial software?
Storm’s case now intersects with broader policy discussions in Washington. Lawmakers recently reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act in January.
The bipartisan proposal came from Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden. The bill seeks to prevent non-custodial developers from being classified as money transmitters. The protection would apply when developers cannot control user funds.
Meanwhile, another case involving a privacy developer has also drawn national attention. In December, former President Donald Trump said he would review a possible pardon for Keonne Rodriguez.
Rodriguez received a five-year federal prison sentence for building a Bitcoin privacy tool with a structure similar to Tornado Cash. He currently serves his sentence at FPC Morgantown.
At the same time, a recent Treasury report to Congress acknowledged that crypto mixers can serve legitimate privacy purposes. Officials cited the protection of personal wealth and charitable donations while noting ongoing illicit finance risks.
Before any retrial begins, the court must address Storm’s pending Rule 29 motion. The motion asks the judge to enter an acquittal on the basis of legal grounds. The court scheduled arguments for April 9. Storm’s defense has said setting a new trial date before that ruling would be premature.
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Federal prosecutors want to retry Roman Storm on money laundering and sanctions evasion charges after last August’s jury deadlock. The case now sits at the center of a wider fight over crypto privacy tools, developer liability, and US rules for non-custodial software.