A software engineer and Tornado Cash co-founder facing a second federal trial over how third parties used an open-source privacy protocol.
Transmission / RS-00102:08Hear Roman in his own words
“I was charged for writing open-source code.”— Roman Storm
Case
U.S. v. Storm
Status
Retrial pending
Exposure
Up to 45 years
The case
Can a developer be imprisoned for the people who misuse immutable code?
Tornado Cash is a non-custodial protocol designed to provide transaction privacy on public blockchains. Prosecutors say Storm knowingly continued operating a profitable service used to move more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds. Storm says he never communicated with the alleged criminals, never helped execute a hack, and could not control who used immutable smart contracts after deployment.
Documented record
A jury convicted Storm of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business in August 2025 and deadlocked on money-laundering and sanctions conspiracies. An acquittal motion and proposed retrial remain active.
Government position
Prosecutors say Storm and his co-founders built, promoted, maintained, and profited from Tornado Cash while knowing it transmitted enormous volumes of criminal proceeds, including funds attributed to North Korean hackers.
Defense position
Storm argues that publishing non-custodial open-source code is not money transmission and that a developer cannot form a criminal conspiracy with unknown people who independently misuse software he cannot stop or modify.
Editorial note: This is defense-centered advocacy. The partial verdict, pending motions, government allegations, and defense arguments are labeled separately. Storm’s quotation and first-person account derive from the EotS event transcript and should be checked against the final recording before publication.
Case chronology
One trial ended without a complete verdict. The prosecution continues.
01
Tornado Cash launches
Storm and his co-founders developed a non-custodial privacy protocol using smart contracts and zero-knowledge proofs to obscure the public link between cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals.
02
Treasury sanctions Tornado Cash
The U.S. Treasury added Tornado Cash to its sanctions list, citing its use to launder stolen funds, including assets connected to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
03
Arrested and charged
Federal agents arrested Storm at his Washington home. Prosecutors charged three conspiracies: money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
04
Treasury removes sanctions
The Treasury removed Tornado Cash from the sanctions list after litigation over whether immutable smart contracts could be treated as sanctionable property.
05
Federal trial begins
Storm went to trial in Manhattan. The central dispute concerned whether his continued work around Tornado Cash made him criminally responsible for illicit use of an open, non-custodial protocol.
06
Split verdict
The jury convicted Storm of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business but could not agree on money-laundering and sanctions-conspiracy charges.
07
Acquittal motion argued
Judge Katherine Polk Failla heard argument on Storm’s request to set aside the conviction. The defense challenged the evidence of a money-transmitting business, intent, and venue.
08
Second trial sought
Prosecutors are pursuing a retrial on the two deadlocked counts. Further proceedings are scheduled for fall 2026 while the defense continues to seek acquittal and prepares to appeal.
Watch + listen
Software, privacy, and criminal liability.
FIRST-PERSON VIDEO / EOTS
I was charged for writing open-source code
Roman Storm · Enemies of the State
Sources + further reading
Follow the code—and the legal theory.
The source record includes the indictment and verdict alongside defense filings, technical analysis, civil sanctions litigation, and policy arguments about developer liability.
Storm’s case could influence whether developers of non-custodial software face criminal liability for independent conduct by users they do not know or control.
Current posturePartial conviction · retrial pending
This first draft combines the official campaign and EotS testimony with the indictment, verdict announcement, court-linked filings, and relevant civil litigation. A licensed portrait and final event-video link can be added without restructuring the page.
