Judge Bars Mention of Van Loon Case in Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm’s Trial

U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that the Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury verdict cannot be referenced during the upcoming criminal trial of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. The decision came during a final pretrial hearing in Manhattan ahead of Storm’s trial, scheduled to begin July 14.

Van Loon v. Treasury centered on whether the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had legal grounds to sanction Tornado Cash. While OFAC delisted the protocol in March and a Texas judge later deemed the sanctions illegal, Failla said, “The words ‘Van Loon’ are not going to show up in this trial,” citing concerns about confusing the jury.

The hearing focused on motions in limine, which aim to exclude certain evidence or testimony. While Judge Failla has not finalized the list of witnesses, she signaled caution about allowing discussions surrounding OFAC sanctions and their broader implications.

Storm’s defense team advocated to exclude mention of the OFAC sanctions, while prosecutors argued that the sanctions are central to the narrative, especially when referencing Storm’s actions—such as specific Google searches, selling $12 million in TORN tokens, and transferring protocol control post-sanctioning.

Additionally, Failla advised both parties to minimize references to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program. Prosecutors allege that Tornado Cash was used by North Korea’s Lazarus Group to launder funds linked to cybercrime and weapons development.

Initially expected to last two weeks, the high-profile trial is now projected to run for a month. The outcome could set a precedent for how U.S. courts treat developers of decentralized protocols amid growing scrutiny over crypto privacy tools.