DOJ to press on with criminal charges against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm

By: cryptosheadlines|2025/05/16 07:30:07

Airdrop Is Live CaryptosHeadlines Media Has Launched Its Native Token CHT. Airdrop Is Live For Everyone, Claim Instant 5000 CHT Tokens Worth Of $50 USDT. Join the Airdrop at the official website, CryptosHeadlinesToken.com The US Department of Justice does not intend to drop its federal criminal charges against Tornado Cash developer and co-founder Roman Storm, Decrypt reported on May 15, citing sources within the DOJ.The DOJ’s decision to proceed comes despite an internal memo circulated last month signaling a potential shift in how the agency handles cases involving crypto mixing services.Storm will stand trial on federal charges, including money laundering and sanctions evasion.Criminal chargesFederal prosecutors allege that Storm conspired to launder funds, evade US sanctions, and operate an unlicensed money transmitting business through Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based coin mixer designed to obscure the origin and destination of crypto transactions.Storm’s trial is set to begin in a Manhattan federal courtroom in less than two months. The most recent court filings show that prosecutors have agreed to drop one portion of the charge related to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, acknowledging inconsistencies with federal guidelines.The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) clarified in 2019 that “non-custodial entities” such as Tornado Cash are not classified as money transmitters. The DOJ’s partial rollback highlights a tension between law enforcement and developers of decentralized software.Amanda Tuminelli, executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, told Decrypt that technologists building neutral privacy tools should not be held to “unreasonable criminal standards.”Her comments echo the sentiment prevalent among industry leaders, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who continues to support Storm.Case to continue despite shifting stanceThe DOJ’s reaffirmation of charges against Storm follows the leak of an internal memo indicating the agency would now prioritize pursuing individuals using crypto tools for criminal purposes rather than prosecuting the platforms themselves.The shift has been interpreted as a sign of evolving policy under the more crypto-friendly Trump administration. However, the DOJ does not intend to drop its charges against Storm.In September, US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied his motion to dismiss, ruling that the use of computer code to facilitate money laundering is not protected under the First Amendment, despite Storm’s claims of free speech protections for his code.The US Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022, claiming that the protocol had facilitated more than $7 billion in illicit transactions.However, in March, the Office of Foreign Assets Control quietly removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list following a federal appeals court decision that found immutable smart contracts cannot be sanctioned as property.Storm’s co-developer, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to over five years in prison by a Dutch court last year but was released under electronic monitoring in February pending an appeal.The DOJ, Storm, and his attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment as of press time.Mentioned in this articleLatest Alpha Market ReportSource link

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Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.

The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.

Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.

Simplified Trading Experience: No KYC Required, Opening a Position in Five Steps

Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.

The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:

· Choose the trading asset

· Select long or short

· Input position size and leverage

· Confirm order details

· Confirm and open the position

The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.

Social-Native Trading: Strategy and Execution Completed in the Same Context

Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:

· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members

· End-to-end encrypted voice communication

· One-click position sharing

· One-click trade copying

On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.

By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.

Referral Mechanism: Non-institutional users can receive up to 60% fee split

Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:

· Users can join with an invite code

· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards

· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings

This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.

Self-Custody Architecture and Built-in Privacy Mechanism

Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:

· Separation of transaction account and asset storage

· User full control over assets

· Platform does not custody user funds

· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure

The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.

A New Path for On-Chain Derivatives

Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.

The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.

Regulatory Background

Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.

This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."

The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.

About Mixin

Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.

Its core capabilities include:

· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations

· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets

· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries

· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication

Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.

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