The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is requesting a new trial for Roman Storm, a developer associated with Tornado Cash, on charges related to money laundering and sanctions violations.

Previously, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on these serious allegations after a four-week trial held in the Southern District of New York, overseen by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.

Storm’s Retrial Set for 2026

The same jury had previously convicted Storm of conspiracy to run an unlicensed money laundering operation but could not reach a consensus on the more serious charges. Recently, Storm disclosed via social media that prosecutors have requested Judge Failla to arrange a retrial in October 2026 in order to resolve these outstanding issues.

He has expressed skepticism about this initiative, commenting,

“The government’s response? Try again to make writing code a crime.”

The Tornado Cash matter is part of a larger ongoing debate in the cryptocurrency community, with many viewing the case as an overt challenge to developers who create privacy-focused technologies. Supporters argue that coders working in open-source should not be held accountable for how their technology is used, while regulators contend that the mixing service was knowingly involved in extensive money laundering activities.

In his recent online post, Storm noted inconsistencies in the government’s stance. He cited indications of a more supportive policy environment for crypto in the U.S., including a statement from President Donald Trump declaring that the “war on crypto is over” and comments from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who stated that the DOJ is “not a digital assets regulator” and will not prosecute crypto mixers for the actions of their users.

Facing a Potential 40-Year Sentence

The 36-year-old developer could receive up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the pending conspiracy charges, in addition to a five-year sentence from a previous ruling. Storm wrote:

“The 2 counts = up to 40 years in federal prison. For writing open-source code. For a protocol I don’t control. For transactions I never touched.”

He believes the prosecutors are merely seeking a different outcome from the initial trial, and he has called for financial support, vowing to continue fighting for the rights of developers. Storm emphasized that “this is the moment” for those who value financial privacy or regard coding as a form of free expression.