A U.S. District Court judge has delayed the retrial of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm until April 26, 2027, extending the proceedings by roughly six months beyond the previously contemplated October 2026 schedule. The decision leaves unresolved a motion seeking to overturn his existing conviction while two more serious charges remain pending.

Court Order and Scheduling Changes

U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued the order on August 25, granting Storm’s request to adjourn the retrial. The defense had asked that proceedings not begin before April 2027, citing the need for additional preparation time after any ruling on the pending motion and other scheduling conflicts. Prosecutors had sought an October start date and opposed the longer postponement.

Under the revised calendar, expert disclosures are set for early 2027, with a final pretrial conference scheduled for April 20, six days before the trial is due to open at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in Manhattan. The intervening period was excluded under the Speedy Trial Act.

Pending Motion for Acquittal

Storm filed a Rule 29 motion on September 30, 2025, seeking a judgment of acquittal on the count for which he was convicted. The motion argues that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to support the verdict. Oral arguments took place on April 9, 2026, but Failla has not yet ruled.

If the motion is granted, the conviction could be set aside. If denied, the conviction would stand while prosecutors pursue a second trial on the remaining charges.

Background on the Original Trial

Storm stood trial in the summer of 2025 on three felony counts related to his role in developing and promoting Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based privacy protocol. After several weeks of testimony and four days of jury deliberations, the panel returned a partial verdict on August 6, 2025.

Jurors found Storm guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, an offense carrying a maximum sentence of five years. They deadlocked on the two remaining counts: conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions. Each of those charges carries a maximum of 20 years. Failla declared a mistrial on the unresolved counts, clearing the way for a possible retrial.

Storm has not yet been sentenced on the money transmitting conviction. If convicted on both remaining charges at a second trial, he would face a combined maximum exposure of 40 years.

Charges and Context of the Case

Federal prosecutors charged Storm in August 2023 alongside co-founder Roman Semenov. The government alleged that Tornado Cash processed more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds, including funds linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Prosecutors contended that the founders continued to develop, promote and benefit from the protocol while aware that sanctioned actors and criminals were using it.

The defense has maintained that Tornado Cash functions through immutable smart contracts over which developers exercise no control over individual user transactions and take no custody of funds. Questions about the degree of control required for criminal liability for software developers have remained central to the dispute.

In May 2025, prosecutors narrowed one aspect of the money transmission allegation, dropping a portion tied to registration requirements under a Justice Department policy that discouraged using certain technical violations to regulate the crypto sector. The remaining theories proceeded to trial.

Sanctions History and Related Developments

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Tornado Cash in August 2022, citing its use to launder large volumes of virtual currency. In November 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immutable smart contracts could not be treated as property subject to sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Treasury lifted the sanctions on March 21, 2025. The criminal case against Storm continued independently of that administrative action.

Storm has publicly described the ongoing prosecution as an effort to set an example for the broader industry. In a post following the latest order, he noted that a jury had deadlocked on the two most serious counts yet the government continued to pursue the case.

The April 2027 trial date now stands as the next major milestone, subject to any intervening ruling on the still-pending motion for acquittal.