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

Prosecutors are citing a recent appeals court ruling involving cryptocurrency mixer Bitcoin Fog in their case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. The ruling, which affirmed the convictions and sentence of Bitcoin Fog operator Roman Sterlingov, found that venue in Washington, D.C. was proper for all four counts.

Prosecutors argue that this ruling supports their position that Tornado Cash activity in Manhattan was sufficient to establish venue in the Southern District of New York for Storm's money-laundering and unlicensed money-transmission conspiracy charges. They point to testimony from Shakeeb Ahmed, who said he used Tornado Cash from his Manhattan apartment.

Roman Storm had challenged the venue for parts of his case in New York. The Tornado Cash founder had also responded to the prosecutors' opposition, noting that FinCEN had withdrawn a proposed mixer rule due to concerns it could impact legitimate activity.

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