TL;DR
- Vitalik Buterin published a letter supporting Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, who is awaiting sentencing in the United States after being convicted in August.
- Storm faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison for money transmission; the jury did not reach a verdict on the money laundering and sanctions charges.
- The legal defense fund raised more than $6.39 million in 2025, with contributions from Buterin, the Ethereum Foundation, the Solana Policy Institute, and other industry participants.
Vitalik Buterin published a letter supporting Roman Storm, developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash, who is awaiting sentencing in the United States after being convicted in August for conspiracy to operate as an unlicensed money transmitter.
Storm could receive a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. The case began in August 2023, when the Department of Justice filed charges related to the operation of the non-custodial mixer Tornado Cash.
The jury found Storm guilty only on the money transmission charge. It failed to reach a verdict on the additional charges of money laundering and sanctions violations. The developer remains free on bail after a judge determined there was no flight risk. Authorities claim Tornado Cash was used to launder more than $1 billion in illicit funds, although the software operates without custody and without direct control by developers over the funds.
Buterin and Ethereum Fund Roman Storm’s Legal Defense
In the letter, Buterin focused his support on the technical nature of Storm’s work. He stated that the judicial process targets software development rather than the appropriation or direct handling of assets. He detailed that he used tools developed by Storm to carry out legitimate payments, such as purchasing technical software and donating to human rights organizations, without those transactions being logged in corporate or government databases.
His support also extends to the financial level. In December 2024, Buterin donated 50 ETH, valued at approximately $170,000 at the time, to Storm’s legal defense fund. The Ethereum Foundation contributed $500,000 in June 2025 and committed to matching an additional $750,000 in community donations. In October 2025, the Ethereum Foundation and Keyring launched a dedicated legal fund for Tornado Cash developers.
Storm’s defense fund raised more than $6.39 million during 2025. Contributions include $500,000 from researcher Federico Carrone and another $500,000 from the Solana Policy Institute, intended to support both Storm and Alexey Pertsev, another co-founder of the protocol. Pertsev was convicted in the Netherlands in 2024 and sentenced to 64 months in prison on money laundering charges related to $1.2 billion in transactions.
An Attack on Privacy and Developers
Multiple legal cases are underway against developers of privacy tools. In the United States, the founders of Samourai Wallet were arrested in 2024. Keonne Rodriguez received a five-year sentence in November 2025, and William Lonergan Hill was sentenced to four years. More than 110 entities from the crypto sector called in 2025 for explicit legal protections for software developers in U.S. legislation.
