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Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, has donated 100 ETH (approximately $240,000) to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, a developer for Tornado Cash. This marks the third contribution Buterin has made to Storm’s defense fund, which has now raised over 327 ETH (valued at roughly $785,000) from 148 contributors.
Roman Storm is facing legal action following the 2022 sanctions placed on Tornado Cash by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), accusing the platform of enabling money laundering activities. On Sept. 26, 2024, U.S. Judge Katherine Failla ruled that the case against Storm could proceed, rejecting his motion to dismiss. The judge noted that the charges against him were not baseless and that writing open-source code did not provide immunity from prosecution. If convicted of all charges, Storm could face up to 45 years in prison.
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Despite pleading not guilty and maintaining that Tornado Cash is decentralized open-source software, the case has generated significant concern within the crypto community. Many argue that prosecuting software developers for writing code could have far-reaching implications for the future of decentralized technology.
In addition to Buterin’s donations, the Tornado Cash developers have received considerable financial support from the crypto community, including over 654 ETH raised by JusticeDAO, a decentralized group formed to crowdsource funds for their defense, totaling more than $1.5 million. This legal battle has become a focal point for discussions on the balance between innovation, privacy, and regulation in the blockchain space.
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