Prosecutors Cite Bitcoin Fog Ruling Against Roman Storm's Venue Challenge

Federal prosecutors told Judge Katherine Polk Failla that a recent D.C. Circuit decision upholding the conviction of Bitcoin Fog founder Roman Sterlingov supports the government’s assertion that venue in Roman Storm’s Tornado Cash case properly lies in Manhattan. The government’s letter, filed Monday in the Southern District of New York, draws parallels between the Sterlingov opinion and testimony from a Tornado Cash user who said he accessed the service from his apartment in Manhattan.

In the Sterlingov decision, the appeals court deemed venue proper in Washington after a special agent deposited roughly $250 of bitcoin into Bitcoin Fog from the district and withdrew nearly all of it the next day. Prosecutors say a similar factual nexus exists here: Shakeeb Ahmed testified that he deposited funds into Tornado Cash from his Manhattan apartment and that the funds remained in the pool for “a couple days,” which the government says is comparable to the timeline in the Bitcoin Fog case.

Storm was convicted by a Manhattan jury in August 2025 on the count alleging he conspired to run an unlicensed money transmitting business; jurors deadlocked on charges tied to money laundering and sanctions. His motion for acquittal, which challenges venue among other issues, was argued in April and has not been decided. Prosecutors argue both the money laundering conspiracy and the money transmitting charge satisfy the Constitution’s requirement that at least part of the offense occur where the trial is held.

Storm publicly shared the government filing on Twitter and pointed to a separate Treasury notice filed the same day in which FinCEN withdrew a 2023 proposal that would have required reporting of international crypto-mixing transactions. FinCEN said commenters expressed concern that the proposal’s broad definition of mixing could chill lawful activity, though the agency also noted mixers remain attractive to illicit actors and it will continue monitoring their use. Storm has a retrial on the two deadlocked counts scheduled to begin April 26, 2027.