American federal actors have determined to reject Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm's attempt to use a recent Supreme Court ruling to dismiss the criminal charges against him, calling the mentioned ruling completely irrelevant to his case.
In a letter submitted Tuesday, the Department of Justice responded to Storm's legal team, which had referred to the Supreme Court ruling in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment as potential support for their client.
DOJ calls the Cox ruling 'irrelevant' to Storm's criminal case
Storm's lawyers argued that the Cox ruling, where the court established that an internet service provider should not be held liable for users' illegal actions in a copyright dispute, could have implications for Storm's case.
The prosecution strongly disagreed. They emphasized that Cox was about civil liability under copyright law. That framework fundamentally differs from the criminal charges Storm faces for money laundering, illegal money transfer, and sanctions evasion.
Authorities drew a clear contrast between Cox's behavior and Storm's actions. While Cox actively countered breaches with a system that eliminated 98% of identified violations, the prosecution claims that Storm deliberately employed ineffective measures for compliance.
The prosecution alleges that Storm knew about the laundering after the Ronin hack of $449 million.
According to DOJ documents, Storm was aware of the Ronin hack on the day it was made public. He expected that the Tornado Cash service would launder the money even before the laundering began.
Authorities highlighted that $449 million in stolen funds was moved through Tornado Cash distributed across 1751 transactions. All of this allegedly occurred with Storm's knowledge.
The prosecution further alleged that at least 37% of all funds that went through the platform were linked to major criminal events that Storm was specifically aware of. During the Ronin hack, this figure rose to over 50% just from that single incident.
"In short, the defendant's response to the criminal use of his company was mostly an attempt to create the impression of measures, and at worst a diversion from the realities. There was nothing like Cox's robust and 98% effective system for handling known violations," wrote the prosecution.
Trial proposed for October 2026.
The filing comes as prosecutors seek to address the trial on two unresolved charges, proposing to start in October 2026. Storm was convicted last August for unauthorized money transfers.
However, the jury could not reach a consensus on the charges of money laundering and sanctions evasion.
Storm's case continues to divide the crypto community. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly supported Storm, calling him honorable for creating privacy tools that still function years after he stopped working on them.
Meanwhile, the founders of a similar mixing service, Samourai Wallet, have already pleaded guilty in money laundering cases.
Co-founder Keonne Rodriguez received five years in prison, while William Lonergan Hill received four years.
The outcome of Storm's trial could set an important precedent for how criminal liability is handled for developers of decentralized privacy protocols.