Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm faces renewed attention after a key U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) official signaled that some crypto cases could still be escalated under new internal guidance. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo in April that told prosecutors to avoid “regulation by prosecution” in unclear regulatory areas, but his comments also left room for continuing to pursue serious crypto cases.
Blanche’s position is significant because many proponents of cryptocurrency, including Storm’s crew, believed the memo would compel the DOJ to refrain from harsh measures against open-source developers. Storm’s supporters feel frustrated because prosecutors claim their Tornado Cash strategy already complies with the memo’s tenets.
Defense Says Case Threatens Developers
Storm’s lawyers quickly pushed back after Blanche’s guidance, and later DOJ filings suggested the department still views the case as a model for crypto enforcement. They argue prosecutors should never have brought the case and say it sends a chilling message to developers who publish code.
Attorney Brian Klein has stressed that U.S. law treats code as speech, like writing a book, and that building privacy tools does not automatically make a developer responsible for criminal users.
The defense has also framed Storm’s prosecution as a threat to the broader crypto industry, claiming it blurs the line between neutral infrastructure and active money laundering.
DOJ Doubles Down In Court
Despite the Blanche memo, prosecutors asked the judge to keep the case moving and rejected Storm’s latest dismissal bid. They told the court that a recent Supreme Court ruling in Cox Communications v. Sony Music, which limits internet provider liability, does not apply to Storm’s case.
Roman Storm, according to the government, did more than simply distribute impartial code. The prosecution claims he operated a criminal enterprise because he regularly altered Tornado Cash, was aware of its illegal use, and failed to implement basic anti-money laundering safeguards.
Additionally, they assert that Tornado Cash laundered more than $1 billion, including funds linked to the 449 million-dollar Ronin Bridge hack and North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
The jury could not reach a decision on the money laundering and sanctions allegations, but it has already found Storm guilty on one count of operating an unregistered money-transmitting firm. Prosecutors now want a retrial on those counts and have proposed starting it as early as October 2026.
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