Federal prosecutors are relying on an appeals court decision involving Bitcoin Fog to argue that Roman Storm’s Tornado Cash case was properly brought in Manhattan, according to Decrypt. The filing seeks to counter Storm’s challenge to the location of his trial as his legal case continues.
Why prosecutors cite the Bitcoin Fog case
The Justice Department sent its arguments to Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a letter filed Monday. Prosecutors pointed to a September 25 decision from the D.C. Circuit that upheld the conviction and 150-month sentence of Roman Sterlingov, the founder of the Bitcoin Fog cryptocurrency mixer.
A mixer is software that combines digital-asset transactions from multiple users, making it more difficult to connect funds with their original source or final destination. Tornado Cash and Bitcoin Fog are both described in the case materials as coin mixers, although the legal proceedings involve different defendants and jurisdictions.
Storm’s motion for acquittal, argued in April and still awaiting a decision, disputes venue among other issues. Under the Constitution, a criminal case must be tried in a location where at least part of the alleged offense occurred.
The prosecutors’ letter addresses the counts involving conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and money laundering. A Manhattan jury convicted Storm in August 2025 on the money-transmitting conspiracy count. It did not reach a verdict on the money-laundering and sanctions charges, leaving those counts unresolved.
In Sterlingov’s case, the appeals court concluded that Washington was a proper venue in significant part because a government agent had deposited about $250 in Bitcoin into Bitcoin Fog from the District of Columbia and withdrew nearly all of it the following day. Prosecutors say that reasoning supports keeping Storm’s case in New York.
The Manhattan transaction at the center of the argument
The government’s filing focuses on Shakeeb Ahmed, a Tornado Cash user who testified that he accessed the service from his apartment in Manhattan. Prosecutors argue that this testimony shows the service handled a transaction connected to the district.
Storm’s attorneys had maintained that Ahmed’s funds remained in Tornado Cash’s pools for too short a period to advance the alleged conspiracy. The government responded that the deposit stayed there for “a couple days,” which it considers comparable to the transaction in the Bitcoin Fog case.
At the April hearing, Storm’s lawyer Brian Klein argued that Ahmed used Tornado Cash before carrying out his crime and did not use the mixer to conduct the hack itself. The prosecution nevertheless says the alleged activity was sufficient for venue purposes.
The government makes a related argument on the unlicensed money-transmitting count. It says the appeals court found venue in Washington because Bitcoin Fog had served customers in that district. In prosecutors’ view, Ahmed’s testimony similarly indicates that Tornado Cash served a customer in Manhattan.
Storm shared the filing on social media Tuesday and said prosecutors were continuing to pursue a conviction. His retrial on the two unresolved counts is scheduled for April 26, 2027, after prosecutors had asked to begin it this month.
FinCEN decision adds a policy backdrop
Storm has contrasted the prosecution’s position with a Treasury Department notice issued Monday. In that notice, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, withdrew a proposed 2023 rule that would have required financial institutions to report transactions involving international cryptocurrency mixing.
FinCEN said the withdrawal reflected concerns raised by commenters that the proposal’s broad definition of mixing could discourage legitimate activity. The agency also said illicit actors continue to use mixers and that it will keep monitoring them.
Storm pointed to the notice alongside an argument made by prosecutor Ben Arad at the April hearing. Arad had said that once Tornado Cash was largely serving criminals, even legitimate transactions passing through the service became illegitimate. Judge Failla questioned that position during the hearing, saying she was concerned if it represented the government’s theory.
The Treasury notice does not decide Storm’s criminal case or the venue dispute. The prosecutors’ filing is instead aimed at showing that the location of the alleged activity can support a New York trial under the reasoning applied in the Bitcoin Fog appeal.
Alexey Pertsev, who worked on Tornado Cash alongside Storm, was convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands in 2024. He was later released under electronic monitoring while appealing that conviction.
Market picture
Moneyiar market data at 10:24 on October 7, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $83884.21402286, down 2.57% over 24 hours and up 0.15% over seven days.
Other listed digital assets were also lower:
- Pharos (PROS): $0.6547148943, down 7.88% in 24 hours and 2.08% over seven days.
- Oasis (ROSE): $0.0078092081, down 6.43% in 24 hours and 14.27% over seven days.
- Notcoin (NOT): $0.0004597468, down 7.19% in 24 hours and 7.63% over seven days.
These market figures describe price movements at the stated time and are separate from the legal proceedings involving Storm and Tornado Cash.
