The Ethereum Foundation has made a significant pledge of $500,000 to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, who is facing federal charges in the United States. In addition to this direct donation, the foundation has also committed to matching up to $750,000 in community contributions.
Roman Storm is scheduled to stand trial on July 14, 2025, in a Manhattan federal court. He is facing charges of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, conspiracy to launder money, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions. The Ethereum Foundation has characterized its donation as a stance for privacy and open-source development, emphasizing that “privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.”
Storm was indicted in August 2023 for his involvement in creating and maintaining Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer that has been accused of facilitating the laundering of over $1 billion in illicit funds. The service allegedly allowed users to conceal the source and destination of transactions, activities that U.S. authorities claim were exploited by hackers and criminal networks to move stolen assets.
His trial comes at a time when prosecutors and regulators are increasing their scrutiny of crypto tools associated with privacy and decentralization. His defense team has argued that the case poses a threat to the foundation of decentralized finance (DeFi) by criminalizing open-source development.
In a statement posted on X, Storm expressed his concerns about the trial, stating, “The DOJ wants to bury DeFi, saying I should’ve controlled it, added KYC, never built it. SDNY is trying to crush me, blocking every expert witness. If I lose, DeFi dies with me.” His co-founder, Roman Semenov, is also facing charges in the case but remains at large in Russia.
The Ethereum Foundation’s donation is one of the most prominent displays of support for Storm and raises questions about the extent to which developers should be held accountable for permissionless code. This contribution follows Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s donation of 50 ETH, valued at around $170,000, earlier this year to support the legal defense of Storm and another developer, Alexey Pertsev.
The legal campaign against Storm has garnered significant attention within the crypto community, with calls for intervention from industry figures and organizations such as the DeFi Education Fund. The case has sparked debates about the implications for open-source software developers and the future of decentralized finance.
As the trial approaches, the Ethereum Foundation’s commitment to supporting Storm underscores the importance of protecting developers and maintaining the principles of privacy and open-source development in the crypto space. This show of solidarity highlights the ongoing challenges faced by innovators in the industry and the need for a supportive ecosystem to safeguard their work.