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DOJ seeks to block Tornado Cash defendant’s venue challenge
Prosecutors cited a separate Bitcoin Fog appeal in an Oct. 5 filing, while the Treasury moved to withdraw a broad mixer-reporting proposal.
Federal prosecutors are asking a New York judge to reject Roman Storm’s venue challenge as part of the Tornado Cash case. The Oct. 5 venue filing, reported by CryptoSlate, invokes a Bitcoin Fog appeal to argue against Storm’s effort to contest where the trial should be held, even as Storm is also facing money-laundering and money-transmission conspiracy counts.
The filing was submitted to Judge Katherine Polk Failla and targets venue on the two counts prosecutors are pursuing against the Tornado Cash co-founder. The case centers on prosecutors’ allegation that Storm knowingly participated in criminal activity involving the cryptocurrency mixer that obscures transaction trails.
The timing aligns with a policy shift at the U.S. Treasury, which is moving to withdraw a broad mixer-reporting proposal. According to CryptoSlate, the prosecution and the policy changes both point to a debate over how lawful privacy work should be distinguished from potential criminal charging decisions.
CryptoSlate also notes that Storm, posting as @rstormsf, has criticized the prosecution as a punishment for writing code and contrasted the case with the Treasury’s retreat. The same reporting says Storm already has an August 2025 conviction on one money-transmission conspiracy count with a statutory maximum of five years, and an Aug. 25, 2026 court order scheduled his retrial for April 26, 2027, while additional proceedings are pending.
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