Lawyers for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm told U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla on Monday they may move for a mistrial, arguing the government has not shown that funds cited by its first witness ever passed through the crypto-mixing protocol. The prosecution opened its case last week with testimony from Hanfeng (Katie) Lin, who said she lost roughly $250,000 in a 2021 online romance fraud and was later informed by a private recovery firm that some of the stolen cryptocurrency was routed via Tornado Cash. Storm’s counsel said on-chain analysis conducted over the weekend found no link between Lin’s funds and the service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thane Rehn responded that an IRS blockchain-analysis expert, identified in court only as Agent George, will testify that the money moved “a few short hops” before entering Tornado Cash. Judge Failla criticized both sides for poor communication, but allowed the government more time to clarify its evidence. Storm, arrested last year alongside fellow developer Roman Semenov, faces charges of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, conspiring to launder money and violating U.S. sanctions, with a maximum penalty of 45 years. A mistrial ruling could force prosecutors to retry the case, which is being closely watched for its implications for open-source software developers.