Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 50 ETH (about $170,000) to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.
The donation, confirmed by Storm on December 31, is another important step by Buterin to protect privacy and open source development within the cryptocurrency space.
Storm expressed his heartfelt gratitude for Buterin’s contributions, acknowledging the Ethereum co-founder’s continued support during difficult times. He wrote:
“I am extremely grateful to Vitalik Buterin for his generous donation to my legal defense fund. Your unwavering support and exemplary leadership continue to inspire us all. Thank you for being with me during this difficult time.”
Storm also shared an update on the progress of its legal defense fund, which has raised $640,061 to date, or 33% of its $2 million goal.
Storm is scheduled to go on trial in the United States on April 14 on charges of money laundering and sanctions violations through cryptocurrency 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 U.S. Treasury’s authority to approve Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contract weakens the case against him.
According to Storm’s lawyers, Tornado Cash’s smart contracts operate autonomously without any individual control. They emphasized that this lack of oversight invalidates claims that Storm knowingly violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The defense also argued that the government’s case misrepresents the dispersed nature of the tornado cache. Autonomous smart contracts process transactions independently, making it impossible to attribute their activity to Storm.
They argue that this lack of direct control eliminates the intent and knowledge needed to justify money laundering charges or unauthorized transfers of funds.
Meanwhile, the incident sparked significant reaction from the community, with Rivet founder Greg Lang saying:
“Creating and publishing open source privacy tools is about protecting speech and not promoting a criminal conspiracy to use the software.”