The Ethereum Foundation’s Bold ${1,000,000} Support for Tornado Cash Dev: Is Justice Smiling? 🤨💸

In a curious twist of fate, the venerable Ethereum Foundation, whose name might evoke images of digital saintliness, has chosen to throw a hefty ${1,000,000} support brace around Roman Storm-the architect of Tornado Cash-a man now facing the stern gaze of the law. One might wonder, does the foundation see a hero or a fugitive in this digital Robin Hood? Or perhaps simply a developer with a penchant for privacy that has ruffled some feathers-perhaps even a tad of sarcasm here, as if supporting privacy is now a crime worth millions to defend!

In a move that could rival a Hollywood plot, the Ethereum Foundation pledges to double the donations for Storm’s legal storm-because, you know, justice is just privacy in disguise, or so they say.
Storm, the man behind Tornado Cash, was recently declared guilty of running what the authorities term an ‘unlicensed money transmitter’. But don’t worry, he’s guilty only of daring to create code that possibly, just possibly, made some folks anonymous and happy. 🤷‍♂️

On August 7th, through the twittersphere, the legal aid account support team-probably with a mischievous grin-announced that the Ethereum Foundation would match donations up to half a million dollars. Not long after, the foundation’s co-executive director, Hsiao-Wei Wang, announced a total pledge of a cool million, as if to say, ‘Hey, good luck, Roman, you’re not alone! Or are you?’

The @ethereumfndn will be matching up to another $500K in donations to the legal defense of Roman Storm.

Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.

The community can contribute to @rstormsf’s legal defense here:

– hww.eth | Hsiao-Wei Wang (@hwwonx) August 7, 2025

This generous backing is not from a recent whim but a continuation of years of unwavering support for Tornado Cash. The Ethereum Foundation has been championing its creators, arguing with a fervor that they shouldn’t be hauled into court simply because their code was occasionally misused by the world’s more mischievous-possibly North Korea’s Lazarus Group-who, by the way, reportedly launders over $7 billion through Tornado Cash. Talk about a community project, eh? 🤔

Tornado Cash: Privacy’s Darling in Court?

Built on Ethereum in 2019, Tornado Cash is the kind of digital cloak-and-dagger everyone secretly admires. It’s a decentralized privacy protocol-meaning no boss bossing it around-using smart contracts to hide sender and receiver identities. Think of it as the Houdini of crypto transactions, minus the handcuffs. An open-source wonder, with no overseer, no gatekeeper, just pure code and a dash of defiance.

Alas, in 2022, the U.S. authorities lit their torches and waved the flag of charges-alleging it was more illicit than a pirate’s treasure trove. An accusation that it facilitated millions of dollars in nefarious deals. (Imagine the developers as the Robin Hoods of privacy, only to be called villains.)

Not alone in the secretive arts are Monero and Zcash-fellow privacy tools-who prefer stealth addresses and zero-knowledge proofs. But Tornado Cash’s bold step of acting fully autonomously has made it the favorite playground of sanctioned groups, including North Korea’s Lazarus gang, who allegedly laundered billions-and yes, they blame Tornado for allowing it.

The Trial and the Partial Justice

Roman Storm’s legal saga concluded with a nuance of victory and defeat. After weeks of courtroom drama, a Manhattan jury managed to find him guilty-only of operating an unlicensed money transmitter, a charge less severe than the prosecutors hoped. They’d aimed for decades behind bars, but the jury seemed to think that simply writing open-source code isn’t quite the same as plotting a bank heist. Oops, karma?

Storm, ever the optimist, remains out on bond, planning an appeal-because who doesn’t love a good courtroom cliffhanger? Meanwhile, his Dutch co-creator, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted last year and sentenced to 64 months but was released earlier this year-perhaps a sign that justice, like Bitcoin, can be somewhat unpredictable.

Both Storm and his comrades have vocally proclaimed their innocence, arguing that their creation was a shield to protect privacy, not a weapon for crime. Notably, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, no stranger to the limelight, echoes this sentiment-highlighting that “privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.” Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case, funnier too. 😅

2025-08-08 16:31

Tornado Cash: Privacy’s Darling in Court?

The Trial and the Partial Justice

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