Code is on Trial: The DOJ Won’t Back Down in Roman Storm Tornado Cash Case

TLDRDOJ will continue prosecution of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm despite recent policy memoThe trial is scheduled for July 14, 2025, on money laundering and sanctions violation chargesDOJ will drop part of one count related to money transmitter registration requirementsStorm’s defense argues coding should have free speech protectionsStorm’s co-developer Alexey Pertsev was sentenced in Dutch court but released pending appealThe U.S. Department of Justice confirmed on Thursday that it will proceed with its prosecution of Roman Storm, a developer of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, despite a recent policy memo that has impacted other crypto-related cases.The DOJ has dropped only a portion of one count related to money transmitter business registration rules but will continue with the remaining charges when the case goes to trial on July 14, 2025.Storm faces charges of knowingly transmitting funds tied to crimes, conspiring to commit money laundering, and conspiring to violate sanctions law. These charges stem from his work on Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based mixer designed to enhance privacy by obscuring the origin and destination of cryptocurrency transactions.In a letter filed to the judge overseeing the case, prosecutors stated that they had reviewed the case with the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. They determined that “this prosecution is consistent with the letter and spirit of the April 7, 2025 Memorandum from the Deputy Attorney General.”The April 7 memo, authored by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, directed prosecutors not to pursue cases where regulations may be unclear. The memo specifically advised against “regulation by prosecution” and has already impacted other crypto-related cases, including one against the developers of crypto mixer Samourai Wallet.Free Speech and CodeStorm’s legal team continues to argue that the case should never have been brought. Brian Klein of Waymaker LLP, who represents Storm, has stated that dismissing the case “would be consistent with the policies of the Trump Administration and the principles outlined by the Department of Justice in its recent cryptocurrency guidance memo.”Klein spoke at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2025 conference in Toronto on Wednesday, where he emphasized one of their key defense arguments.“One of the defenses we’ve raised, which is recognized in the U.S., is that coding — literally typing out code — you are given free speech protections for coding,” he said. “It’s just as if you wrote a book or you did some other type of expressive activity.”The defense’s position highlights an ongoing tension between law enforcement and developers of decentralized software. Amanda Tuminelli, executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, has stated that technologists building neutral privacy tools should not be held to “unreasonable criminal standards.”Storm’s defense has found support among industry leaders, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. However, this argument has faced challenges in court already.In September, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied Storm’s motion to dismiss, ruling that the use of computer code to facilitate money laundering is not protected under the First Amendment.The decision to continue with Storm’s prosecution comes despite what some view as a shifting stance on crypto platforms under the current administration. The DOJ’s partial rollback of charges acknowledges some inconsistencies with federal guidelines, particularly concerning the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s 2019 clarification that “non-custodial entities” like Tornado Cash are not classified as money transmitters.The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022, claiming that the protocol had facilitated more than $7 billion in illicit transactions. However, in March, the Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list following a federal appeals court decision that found immutable smart contracts cannot be sanctioned as property.Storm’s co-developer, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to over five years in prison by a Dutch court last year but was released under electronic monitoring in February pending an appeal.The DOJ’s decision to proceed with most charges against Storm suggests that while there may be some reconsideration of how cryptocurrency platforms are regulated, individual developers may still face legal consequences for their involvement in creating tools that can be used for illicit purposes.The trial is set to begin in Manhattan federal court in July 2025.The post Code is on Trial: The DOJ Won’t Back Down in Roman Storm Tornado Cash Case appeared first on CoinCentral.