• Roman Storm will face trial in July for laundering billions through Tornado Cash and violating US laws.

  • Prosecutors dropped one charge but will continue with key allegations tied to money laundering and sanctions.

  • The crypto community says Tornado Cash is a tool and should not be treated as a criminal service.

Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, will go on trial starting July 14 in New York. The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the date in a court document dated May 15. The document was sent to Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York.

https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1923118161584668725 Trial Will Focus on Three Major Criminal Charges

The trial will proceed with three key charges. These include conspiracy to launder money and violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Storm is also charged with knowingly handling criminal proceeds.

Each conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. An earlier charge, now dropped, could have added five more years. Prosecutors removed that charge after consulting with the Justice Department and local officials.

DOJ Removes License Charge Amid Legal Review

Prosecutors have dropped the charge related to running an unlicensed money transmission service. This decision came after legal review and alignment with new DOJ policy. The removed charge claimed Storm failed to register Tornado Cash with authorities.

The change reflects a memo from April 2025 by Todd Blanche, a Justice Department official. The memo advises against charging digital asset crimes unless there is clear harm or legal violation.

Prosecutors Say Case Still Meets Legal Threshold

Despite the dropped charge, the DOJ will continue the case. Officials say Storm acted knowingly and in coordination with other criminal activity. Authorities allege Tornado Cash laundered over $7 billion in crypto assets. The amount includes funds believed linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

Storm has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His co-founder, Roman Semenov, remains at large and is believed to be in Russia.

Crypto Community Pushes Back on DOJ’s Approach

Industry groups criticized the DOJ’s position. Privacy advocates argue that Tornado Cash is a neutral, non-custodial tool. They say the case goes against 2019 FinCEN guidelines for such services. The DeFi Education Fund cited the DOJ memo to support dropping the case. Coin Center’s Peter Van Valkenburgh also challenged the charges under U.S. legal standards.

Storm earlier tried to dismiss the case. He argued that writing open-source code should be protected as free speech. However, the court ruled that the case concerns how the tool was used, not its creation. As a result, the First Amendment defense was not accepted.

In 2022, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Tornado Cash. The agency said it posed a national security threat. Those sanctions were lifted in March 2025 after a court ruling found them unlawful.