Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm Faces Criminal Charges in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to bring criminal charges against Roman Storm, the developer and co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. This information was reported by Decrypt, citing a department spokesperson.

Federal prosecutors allege that Storm conspired to launder money, evade U.S. sanctions, and operate an unlicensed money transfer business using Tornado Cash.

The trial is set to begin in less than two months. Recent court filings indicate that prosecutors have agreed to dismiss part of the charges related to operating an unlicensed money transfer business due to discrepancies in federal regulations.

In 2019, FinCEN clarified that «non-custodial organizations,» such as Tornado Cash, do not fall under the category of money transmitters.

«A provider of anonymizing software is not classified as a money sender. Regulations exclude from the definition those who only provide delivery services, communications, or network access used for transferring funds,» the agency’s guidance states.

Storm’s case is ongoing, despite a leaked internal memo from last month indicating a shift in the DOJ’s approach to cases involving cryptocurrency mixing services. The memo suggested that the agency would focus on prosecuting individuals who use crypto tools for criminal purposes rather than targeting the platforms themselves.

Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev was sentenced to over five years in prison in May 2022 for laundering $1.2 billion through the mixer but was released under electronic monitoring in February 2025 as he awaits appeal.

Tornado Cash was placed under sanctions by OFAC in August 2022 due to its involvement in money laundering. According to U.S. authorities, since its inception, the service has facilitated the transfer of over $7 billion by malicious actors, including the North Korean group Lazarus.

It’s worth noting that on January 21, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to lift sanctions, citing «overreach» by OFAC and referred the case to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas for further proceedings.

In March, the agency removed over 100 Ethereum addresses related to the crypto mixer from its sanctions list.

At the end of April, a U.S. federal court prohibited OFAC from reinstating or imposing further sanctions against Tornado Cash.