Federal prosecutors filed a motion Monday citing a September 25 appeals court ruling in the Bitcoin Fog case as supplemental authority opposing Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's acquittal motion.
The D.C. Circuit's decision upheld the convictions and sentence of Bitcoin Fog operator Roman Sterlingov. The court determined that venue in Washington, D.C., was proper for all four counts, relying on evidence that an undercover agent conducted Bitcoin Fog transactions from a D.C. office for money-laundering charges and finding sufficient evidence that Bitcoin Fog served customers in the district for unlicensed money-transmission counts.
Prosecutors argued the Bitcoin Fog ruling "directly supports" their position in Storm's case, contending that Tornado Cash activity in Manhattan established proper venue in the Southern District of New York for Storm's money-laundering and unlicensed money-transmission conspiracy charges. They cited testimony from Shakeeb Ahmed, who stated he used Tornado Cash from his Manhattan apartment.
A jury convicted Storm in August 2025 of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business but deadlocked on money-laundering and sanctions-conspiracy charges. Storm filed his post-trial acquittal motion in September 2025, arguing prosecutors failed to prove he intended to help criminals misuse Tornado Cash.
In his motion, Storm argued that Ahmed's use of Tornado Cash from his Manhattan apartment was insufficient to establish venue because the transactions did not further the alleged conspiracy. Prosecutors countered that even short-lived deposits assist a mixer by increasing the pool of transactions used to obscure fund movements, reasoning they said applies to Ahmed's activity.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla heard arguments on Storm's acquittal motion in April 2026 and has not yet ruled. A retrial on the money-laundering and sanctions conspiracy counts is scheduled for April 26, 2027, if those charges remain pending.
Storm responded to the filing on social media Monday, stating the DOJ is "still coming after me with everything it has." He also referenced the Treasury Department's Monday announcement that it would withdraw its proposed crypto-mixer rule, suggesting the government is taking conflicting approaches to cryptocurrency privacy tools.
