Prosecutors push to retry Tornado Cash founder even after Washington said crypto mixers have legal uses

The US government is sending mixed signals regarding cryptocurrency privacy. While the Treasury Department has acknowledged that legitimate users may utilize crypto mixers for financial privacy, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) are pushing to retry Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions. This retrial, slated for October 2026, comes after a jury deadlocked on these counts last August, despite convicting Storm on an unlicensed money-transmitting charge. The government’s stance appears to be evolving, becoming more lenient towards mainstream crypto infrastructure but remaining firm on cases involving sanctions evasion, particularly those linked to North Korea. Treasury’s recent report to Congress highlighted $1.6 billion in mixer-originated deposits into blockchain bridges, with a significant portion linked to illicit activity. Investors should be aware that a “pro-crypto” policy shift doesn’t uniformly reduce risk across the sector, and privacy-focused projects may still face legal challenges.

(Source：CryptoSlate)