Ethereum founder reiterates support for Roman Storm citing privacy
Ethereum blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin has doubled down on his support for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, who could face two criminal charges sometime this year.
On Friday's X-Post, Buterin warned his followers about secrecy from both the public and the government, saying he used Tornado's cash to advance that principle. The Ethereum founder has supported Storm since before the trial, saying it is not a crime to develop software for others to benefit privacy.
“I personally use Roman software to make transactions – to buy software for my own use, without my name ending up in a corporate database, to support important human rights charities and other goals,” Butterin said. “Roman has been a principled and staunch proponent of these principles. Unlike others who use these reasons as an excuse to turn a profit and write software with shiny ads but broken under the hood.” […]”
Storm was charged in August 2023 with operating an unlicensed money transmitter business and conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations. In August, he was found guilty of the first charge, but a jury acquitted him of the other two.
Related: Roman Storm asks DeFi devs: Can you be sure the DOJ won't charge you?
As of Friday, it was unclear whether U.S. prosecutors would retry Storm on the two felony charges or if he would be convicted of operating an illegal money laundering business. He has repeatedly claimed to be innocent and has received support from many in the crypto industry who say “writing code is not a crime”.
Presidential intervention in hurricane cases?
In November, following the verdict in the Storm trial, a group of crypto companies and advocacy groups called on US President Donald Trump to step in and urge the Justice Department to “dismiss all pending charges” against the developer of Tornado Cash.
Trump did not publicly comment on Storm's case until Friday or indicate whether he plans to issue a presidential pardon. Polymarket's event contract before 2027 featured a number of crypto industry figures, including former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, regarding Trump's pardon, but not a storm.
Storm's attorneys and prosecutors are scheduled to return to court on Jan. 22 to discuss the case.
Magazine: When Privacy and AML Laws Collide: Crypto Projects' ‘Impossible Choice'
