US seeks retrial of Tornado Cash developer

TLDR

US federal prosecutors are seeking to retry Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on money-laundering and sanctions charges after a jury deadlocked on those counts in his first trial.

1. Prosecutors want an October 2026 retrial on two counts that could carry up to 40 years in prison, after a hung jury on those charges.
2. The case tests how far US authorities can hold open-source privacy protocol developers liable for user activity, despite officials acknowledging mixers can have lawful uses.
3. Key next steps are rulings on Storms bid to overturn his existing conviction and whether the judge actually schedules a retrial, which will signal how hard regulators will push on privacy tooling.

Deep Dive

1. What Prosecutors Are Doing

In Storms first trial, a jury convicted him only for conspiring to run an unlicensed money transmitting business but could not agree on two more serious counts: conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.

Because a hung jury is not an acquittal, prosecutors can retry those charges. They have asked Judge Katherine Polk Failla to schedule a new trial in early October 2026 and expect it to last about three weeks, with each count carrying up to 20 years in prison, according to detailed reporting on the planned retrial and its timing.

Storm has publicly argued that he merely wrote open-source code for a protocol he did not control and that transactions passed through Tornado Cash without his involvement, a framing highlighted in coverage of the governments retrial request.

2. Why This Matters For Crypto

This is becoming a test case for whether developers of non-custodial privacy tools can be criminally liable when bad actors use their code. A CryptoSlate analysis notes that prosecutors are pushing the retrial even after the US Treasury told Congress that crypto mixers may have legitimate privacy uses and even after Tornado Cash was later delisted from sanctions status due to legal and policy complexity while still being flagged for DPRK-related risk.

At the same time, an April 2025 Department of Justice memo said the agency would stop using regulation by prosecution against neutral infrastructure like wallets and mixers, but would keep aggressive enforcement where sanctions, hacking or terrorism are involved. The focus on retrying Storm on laundering and sanctions counts fits that narrower, national security driven approach.

3. What To Watch Next

Storms legal team has moved to overturn his existing conviction entirely, with arguments scheduled for early April and a ruling expected before any retrial date is locked in. A decision in his favor could narrow or even remove the basis for a second trial.

Observers are also watching whether the court or later appeals grapple directly with the distinction between writing and publishing code, operating a service, and having intent to facilitate laundering. A ruling that narrows developer liability would ease pressure on other privacy tools, while a conviction on sanctions and laundering counts could embolden more cases against mixer and privacy-project teams.

Conclusion

The US push to retry Roman Storm shows that, even as Washington softens on mainstream crypto infrastructure, it is drawing a hard line where privacy tools intersect with sanctions and national security. For anyone building or holding exposure to mixers and similar protocols, the regulatory risk path will be shaped less by tokenomics than by how courts resolve this high-profile test of developer liability.