Federal prosecutors in Manhattan need one other likelihood to convict Twister Money developer Roman Storm, asking a choose to schedule a retrial this October on two legal counts the place jurors failed to achieve a unanimous choice final 12 months.
The request, filed Monday within the Southern District of New York, would reopen probably the most consequential authorized battles over the boundaries of software program growth and legal legal responsibility within the cryptocurrency business.
The case facilities on Twister Money, a decentralized crypto mixer designed to obscure the origin and vacation spot of blockchain transactions.
Prosecutors argue the instrument enabled large-scale illicit finance. Storm and his supporters argue the federal government is trying to criminalize open-source code.
Storm’s first trial resulted in August with a combined consequence. A Manhattan jury convicted him of conspiracy to function an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise however deadlocked on two different costs: conspiracy to commit cash laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.
These unresolved counts carry the heaviest penalties. A conviction on each might expose Storm to as a lot as 40 years in federal jail.
Of their letter to Choose Katherine Polk Failla, prosecutors mentioned a retrial date ought to be set now to keep away from scheduling delays. They proposed a begin in early or mid-October and estimated a brand new trial would final about three weeks.
Storm stays free on bail whereas the case continues.
A combined coverage shift in Washington
The retrial request arrives throughout a shift within the federal authorities’s public posture towards digital property.
Final 12 months, Deputy Lawyer Common Todd Blanche circulated a memo stating that the Justice Division “shouldn’t be a digital property regulator.” The steering instructed prosecutors to keep away from instances that try to impose regulatory frameworks by way of legal costs in opposition to platforms, wallets, and comparable infrastructure.
The memo additionally cautioned in opposition to focusing on builders for the conduct of customers who work together with decentralized instruments.
On the similar time, the U.S. Division of the Treasury has softened its language round privateness instruments on public blockchains. In a March 2026 report back to Congress beneath the GENIUS Act, Treasury acknowledged that digital asset mixers can serve reputable functions.
Based on the report, lawful customers might depend on such instruments to protect delicate monetary info, together with private wealth, enterprise funds, charitable donations, and shopper spending patterns.
Storm helped create Twister Money in 2019 as a privateness protocol for the Ethereum community. In contrast to custodial mixers, the protocol operates by way of sensible contracts fairly than a centralized service operator.
Federal authorities have argued the instrument facilitated greater than $1 billion in illicit transactions, together with exercise tied to the North Korean hacking group often known as the Lazarus Group.
Roman Storm: Making code against the law
Storm’s protection maintains that builders can’t management how decentralized software program is used after deployment.
In a put up on X following information of the retrial request, Storm mentioned the primary jury heard 4 weeks of proof earlier than failing to achieve consensus on the 2 most critical costs.
“A jury of 12 People heard 4 weeks of proof and deadlocked,” he wrote. “No verdict on cash laundering. No verdict on sanctions violations.”
Storm framed the retrial effort as an try to redefine the authorized standing of code.
“The federal government’s response?” he wrote. “Strive once more to make writing code against the law.”