Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has contributed 100 Ether, valued at $240,000, to the defense fund for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.
The donation aims to support Storm, who faces legal challenges with his work on the privacy tool Tornado Cash. This marks the third time Buterin has contributed to this cause, reflecting ongoing community support for the embattled developer.
Fundraising Efforts for Roman Storm’s Defense
The legal defense fund, Free Alexey & Roman Storm, has raised over 327 Ether, approximately $785,000, from 148 individual contributions. The funds are intended to help cover the legal costs associated with Storm’s defense. Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov are facing charges for their involvement in creating the cryptocurrency mixer, which authorities claim has been used to facilitate illegal transactions.
After receiving Buterin’s donation, Roman Storm expressed his gratitude, thanking Buterin for his continuous support. Storm faces significant legal pressure as the case against him proceeds, and this financial backing from the crypto community has become a crucial element in his defense.
New York Court Advances Case Against Roman Storm
A ruling by a New York judge has determined that the trial against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm will move forward. The decision, made during a telephonic hearing in late September, denied Storm’s motion to dismiss the charges. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla stated that the charges against Storm had sufficient legal grounding, rejecting claims that he was being prosecuted solely for writing code.
Storm and his supporters argue that prosecuting him for writing open-source software infringes upon his First Amendment rights, compared to prosecuting free speech. However, Judge Failla countered that the software code’s functional nature disqualified it from First Amendment protection as speech. As a result, the trial will proceed as scheduled, drawing attention from the broader cryptocurrency community.
Legal Challenges and Community Support Amidst Rising Tornado Cash Usage
Roman Storm, along with Roman Semenov, faces serious charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violating international sanctions. Storm could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all charges. Despite these legal hurdles, Storm maintains that Tornado Cash is an open-source project and that the developers do not control how the tool is used.
The trial is set to begin on December 2 in New York and is expected to last two weeks. The case has intensified the ongoing debate within the crypto community about privacy tools and the legal responsibilities of developers. At the same time, support for Storm and Semenov has grown, with prominent figures like Buterin continuing to back their defense efforts.
Despite the legal and regulatory challenges, Tornado Cash remains active, with the mixer seeing nearly $2 billion in deposits in the first half of 2024. This marks a 50% increase in deposits compared to the previous year, even as U.S. authorities attempt to curb its use through sanctions. These sanctions, however, primarily affect users transferring funds to OFAC-compliant centralized exchanges, leaving pseudonymous wallet addresses largely unaffected.