Lawyers for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm are weighing a potential mistrial after raising doubts about the government’s key witness and whether the crypto mixer was even used in a fraud case presented to the jury.
Storm, who is facing charges of conspiracy to launder money and violate U.S. sanctions, began the second week of his trial in a Manhattan federal court with a sharp rebuttal to prosecution testimony. His lawyer, David Patton, pushed back on claims made by Hanfeng Ling, who told the jury she lost crypto in a 2021 “pig butchering” scam and believed the funds passed through Tornado Cash.
But Storm’s defense now says it found no blockchain evidence linking Ling’s stolen funds to the service. Ethereum security expert Taylor Monahan echoed that on X over the weekend, writing: “There’s no Tornado Cash. I have no clue what they were tracing.”
Monahan added that scammers “do not use Tornado Cash,” questioning the government’s investigative trail. Ling relied on a so-called crypto recovery service that apparently pointed to Tornado Cash, but its accuracy is now under scrutiny.
The trial, which began last week, is drawing growing attention from the crypto community. Storm, arrested in 2023, faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts. He has pleaded not guilty.
The defense also failed to block testimony from a government expert who claims Storm could have implemented smart contract features to deter criminals from using the platform. Judge Katherine Failla denied the motion on Sunday, allowing AnChain.AI investigator Philip Werlau to testify that a “user registry smart contract” was technically feasible — even if never actually used in practice.
The prosecution is expected to rest its case by Friday. So far, it has called a range of witnesses including hackers who allegedly used Tornado Cash, FBI agents, and financial investigators. FBI special agent Joel DeCapua told the jury his team tracked 16 large transactions, each moving more than $5 million through the mixer.
Storm’s case comes after his fellow Tornado Cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to more than five years in prison in the Netherlands earlier this year for similar charges.
Judge Failla indicated she’s reviewing how recent crypto cases — like those involving FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and OneCoin’s Karl Greenwood — have been handled in court. Jury selection for Storm’s trial began on July 14, with proceedings expected to continue for another two to three weeks.
