Vitalik Buterin helps Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm with $170k New Year donation

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, has donated 50 ETH (approximately $170,000) to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, a Tornado Cash developer.

The donation, confirmed by Storm on Dec. 31, marks another significant gesture by Buterin in defense of privacy and open-source development within the crypto space.

Storm expressed heartfelt appreciation for Buterin’s contribution while acknowledging the Ethereum co-founder’s ongoing support during a challenging time. He wrote:

“Immense gratitude to Vitalik Buterin for his generous donation to my legal defense fund. Your unwavering support and leadership by example continue to inspire us all. Thank you for standing with me during this challenging time.”

Storm also shared an update on the progress of his legal defense fund, which has so far raised $640,061—33% of the $2 million target.

Storm is scheduled to face trial in the US on April 14 over allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations through the crypto mixing platform Tornado Cash.

Legal efforts

Storm’s donation announcement follows his December motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him.

His legal team argued that a recent court ruling questioning the US Treasury’s authority to sanction Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts undermines the case against him.

According to Storm’s lawyers, Tornado Cash’s smart contracts operate autonomously without individual control. They emphasized that this lack of oversight negates claims that Storm knowingly violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The defense further argued that the government’s case misrepresents Tornado Cash’s decentralized nature. Autonomous smart contracts process transactions independently, making it impossible to attribute their activities to Storm.

They contend that this lack of direct control removes the intent and knowledge required to justify money laundering charges or unauthorized money transmission.

Meanwhile, the case has drawn significant community reaction, with Greg Lang, the founder of Rivet, saying:

“Creating and publishing open source privacy tools is protected speech—not an act in furtherance of any criminal conspiracy that uses the software.”

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