Roman Storm is a software developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service. At the 2025 federal trial, a jury convicted him on one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business but did not reach verdicts on two other counts. The unresolved charges and the conviction are separate parts of the case.
The charges and trial result
The 2023 indictment charged Storm and Roman Semenov with conspiracy counts involving money laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and sanctions violations. These were allegations in the indictment, not findings of guilt. After trial, the jury found Storm guilty on Count Two, the unlicensed money-transmitting-business conspiracy. It did not reach a unanimous verdict on Counts One and Three, and the court declared a mistrial on those counts.
Post-trial motions and retrial schedule
Storm sought acquittal after the verdict. In its September 10, 2026 order, the court described that post-trial motion as still under consideration, recorded the retrial date of April 26, 2027 for the unresolved counts, and denied a separate request to dismiss those counts under the Speedy Trial Act. That order did not decide the pending acquittal motion or the merits of the unresolved charges. Court schedules can change, so the docket should be checked for later rulings before treating this timeline as current.
Why the case matters
The prosecution has drawn attention to how criminal law applies to developers and operators of privacy-preserving software. The verdict in this case is specific to the count the jury decided; it should not be summarized as a conviction on every original charge or as a general ruling that all privacy tools are unlawful. The remaining counts require their own resolution.
Last updated: 2026-10-24
Related Terms
See Also
- What Are Zero-Knowledge Proofs in Blockchain?
- Why Calling It a “Wallet” May Have Been Crypto’s Biggest Mistake
- Why Smart Contract Audits Fail
Sources
- United States v. Storm and Semenov — 2023 indictment — The charging document lays out the original counts and the government’s allegations; an indictment is not a finding of guilt.
- U.S. Attorney’s Office — Storm conviction announcement — The Department of Justice reports the August 2025 conviction on the unlicensed money-transmitting count.
- United States v. Storm — September 10, 2026 order — The order recounts the partial verdict, mistrial on the unresolved counts, pending post-trial motion, retrial schedule, and denial of a separate Speedy Trial Act dismissal request.