Tornado Cash defence says prosecutors misled court on crypto mixer laws

Roman Storm's lawyers accuse federal prosecutors of misleading the court about how US law treats noncustodial crypto mixers, citing an August 2023 call between prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and senior FinCEN officials. In a motion filed on Friday, the defence argues prosecutors withheld FinCEN communications that could undermine the government's claim that Tornado Cash operated as an unlicensed money transmitting business. According to details revealed earlier this month in the related Samourai Wallet case, FinCEN reportedly said that because Samourai Wallet never took custody of user funds, it likely was not a money services business. Storm's team is asking the court to compel disclosure of all FinCEN communications, and his trial is scheduled for July 14.