Ethereum Foundation donates $500,000 to defend Roman Storm
Date: 2025-06-16 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
The Ethereum Foundation has donated $500,000 to Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, who is currently under investigation in the United States. The organization's representatives emphasized that they will raise additional funds — at least $750,000 — through donations from the crypto community. According to them, the right to privacy is the norm, and writing software code cannot be considered a crime.
Roman Storm is accused by US authorities of conspiracy to launder money, violating international sanctions, and conducting unlicensed money transfer activities using Tornado Cash. His trial is expected to begin on July 14. The programmer himself and his team set a goal of raising about $2 million to pay for the work of lawyers and expenses related to the defense in court.
Earlier, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ban on the use of the Tornado Cash crypto mixer in January. However, in April, the federal court made the opposite decision and prohibited the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department (OFAC) from renewing this ban. This decision was a significant victory for supporters of decentralized technologies and privacy in the crypto community.
In addition, earlier, federal judge Katherine Polk Failla rejected the request of Roman Storm's defense to review the evidence provided by the US Department of Justice. This refusal complicated the task of Storm's lawyers, since some of the materials on which the accusation is based are not subject to review.
Thus, support from the Ethereum Foundation and the crypto community is becoming an important part of the campaign to protect the programmer, the charges against whom are causing controversy and discussions regarding the rights of developers and the boundaries of regulation in the blockchain sector.
