Federal prosecutors in Manhattan need one other probability to convict Twister Money developer Roman Storm, asking a decide to schedule a retrial this October on two prison 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 one of the vital consequential authorized battles over the boundaries of software program improvement and prison legal responsibility within the cryptocurrency trade.
The case facilities on Twister Money, a decentralized crypto mixer designed to obscure the origin and vacation spot of blockchain transactions.
Prosecutors argue the software enabled large-scale illicit finance. Storm and his supporters argue the federal government is making an attempt to criminalize open-source code.
Storm’s first trial resulted in August with a combined end result. A Manhattan jury convicted him of conspiracy to function an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise however deadlocked on two different expenses: 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 must 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 “isn’t a digital property regulator.” The steerage instructed prosecutors to keep away from circumstances that try to impose regulatory frameworks by way of prison expenses towards platforms, wallets, and comparable infrastructure.
The memo additionally cautioned towards 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 reliable functions.
In line with the report, lawful customers could depend on such instruments to defend delicate monetary info, together with private wealth, enterprise funds, charitable donations, and client 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 reasonably than a centralized service operator.
Federal authorities have argued the software facilitated greater than $1 billion in illicit transactions, together with exercise tied to the North Korean hacking group generally known as the Lazarus Group.
Roman Storm: Making code a criminal offense
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 severe expenses.
“A jury of 12 Individuals 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. “Attempt once more to make writing code a criminal offense.”
