Key Takeaways:
- Ethereum Foundation will match up to $500,000 in donations for Roman Storm’s legal defense.
- Storm was convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmission business and plans to appeal.
- The case could set a global precedent for software developers building privacy-focused tools.
Ethereum Foundation Matches Donations for Roman Storm’s Defense
Ethereum Foundation has decided to match the community’s donations up to $500,000 to cover the legal expenses of Tornado Cash co-owner Roman Storm. X, the official account of Ethereum, made an announcement that was accompanied by a phrase, “Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.” The co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, also repeated the message while sharing it.
One New York jury just declared thatz Storm was guilty of conducting an business of money transmission without a license. Nevertheless, the jury was unable to agree on the decision concerning money laundering and sanctions violation. Brian Klein, the defense lawyer, and Storm’s team are assured and they state that they are getting ready to appeal the decision.
Working with co-conspirators to launder money and breach sanctions, it is claimed, were things that Storm engaged in by utilizing the privacy-focused crypto mixer Tornado Cash for which it was unnamed. Prosecutors in U.S. assert that Storm was the mastermind of illicit transactions of more than $1 billion that were performed without their knowledge. Among the shipments were just a few transactions that were carried out to a North Korean hacker group, the Lazarus group. Storm has protested not to be guilty of all the accusations and charges.
Crypto Community Rallies for Developer Rights
The non-profit Free Pertsev & Storm — which provides legal aid to Tornado Cash’s developers — cautioned that if the appeal were to be rejected, Storm would be imprisoned for up to five years, and if the authorities decide to retry the case, he would probably serve the entire time as if he were involved in the other charges.
Blockchain advocates argue that Storm should not be held liable for the actions of third parties using open-source, noncustodial protocols. The DeFi Education Fund criticized the verdict, stating that the decision risks criminalizing the act of coding decentralized financial tools, including privacy-preserving technologies.
Supporters believe that the outcome of this case could set a major legal precedent determining whether software developers worldwide can be held accountable for how others use their code.
Summary
The Ethereum Foundation’s $500,000 donation match underscores the crypto community’s growing push to defend developer rights. Roman Storm’s case could shape the future of privacy tech and open-source innovation in the blockchain space.
Also Read: Trump Order Opens 401(k)s to Crypto and Private Markets
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