U.S. Department of Justice Rejects Tornado Cash Developer's Motion to Dismiss

April 8—The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officially rejected on Tuesday the latest plea deal motion filed by Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm to withdraw the related criminal charges.

The case began in 2023. Storm was indicted for operating the mixing service Tornado Cash. The mixing service can conceal records of blockchain transactions, while prosecutors alleged that Storm knew the platform was being used for money laundering but took no intervention.

As early as last year, a Manhattan jury found that he was guilty of operating an illegal money transmission business, but it failed to reach a unanimous decision on charges of money laundering and violating sanctions. At present, the DOJ is preparing to retry the remaining charges.

Notably, in late March last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in a music copyright case. The Court held that Cox, a large internet service provider, is not liable for users’ unlawful actions. That decision appears to have given Storm’s legal team a measure of hope.

Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Cox case, Storm challenged the legality of the Treasury Department’s sanctions against Tornado Cash, and then argued that the criminal charges against him should fail.

But in its latest response, the DOJ made it clear that the Supreme Court’s ruling applies only to specific administrative procedural issues, and has no direct bearing on the criminal findings in Storm’s case regarding the responsibility of smart contract operators.

Prosecutors also claimed there is no evidence that crypto privacy service providers such as Tornado Cash have substantial or commercially viable non-criminal use cases, which directly undermines the defense’s “lawful use” argument.

In summary, this case reflects the contradictory position of the Trump administration—supporting cryptocurrencies while continuing to prosecute crypto developers. Storm’s team hoped to use the Supreme Court ruling as a basis for its defense, but the DOJ has indicated it will continue pushing forward with the prosecution.

At present, Storm’s retrial date has not yet been finalized. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. The case is also seen as a key test case for how the U.S. legal system handles the legal responsibility of developers of decentralized protocols.

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