Vitalik Butеrin donated 100 ETH worth $242,000 to support the Tornado Cash developer’s defense fund. Judge Catherine Feira denied Roman Storm’s request to dismiss and allowed the charges against him to proceed. Despite the sanctions, Tornado Cash’s deposits jumped 50% to $1.9 billion in early 2024.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin reiterated his support for the developers of Tornado Cash by donating 100 Ethereum (ETH) equivalent, or approximately $242,000, to the Roman Storm Defense Fund. The donation, made on October 5, 2024, follows Buterin’s donation of more than $100,000 in May to support Tornado Cash developer amid ongoing legal issues. This emphasizes his commitment.
On-chain data provided by SpotonChain revealed that Buterin liquidated the majority of his memecoin holdings, including assets such as MOODENG, DEGEN, NEIRO, and KOBASU. This swap resulted in a total of 140.7 ETH. Of this amount, 100 ETH went to the “Freе Alеxеy & Roman” campaign, which focuses on supporting Tornado Cash developers Alexеy Pеrtsеv and Roman Storm.
According to the “Defend Roman Storm” crowdsourcing page, the campaign has raised a total of 327 ETH from 148 different payments, and the current value of these donations is approximately $785,000.
Roman Storm, who received Buterin’s donation, expressed his gratitude: Thank you for your support over the years. ”
Source: Free Pertsev and Storm
Storm’s legal battle intensifies
In a recent legal development, on September 26, 2024, U.S. Judge Catherine Feira denied a motion to dismiss the charges against Roman Storm. Judge Failla noted that the case against Storm is well-founded, and said, “I simply cannot accept that Storm is being prosecuted simply because he wrote the code.” The ruling allows legal proceedings to continue and puts further pressure on Storm.
Storm maintains his innocence, stressing that TornadoCash is open source software that anyone can access and is not directly controlled by its developers. However, if convicted on all three charges, he could be sentenced to up to 45 years in prison.
In response to these legal challenges, JusticeDAO was established in June 2024 to raise funds for Tornado Cash developers. The decentralized group successfully crowdsourced over 654 ETH, equivalent to approximately $1.5 million at current market prices.
Tornado cash deposits surge despite sanctions
The legal battle over Tornado Cash extends beyond court proceedings. In 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the platform for facilitating money laundering activities. Nevertheless, the report shows that deposits to Tornado Cash continued to surge in the first half of 2024. According to the data, deposits amounted to approximately $1.9 billion, an increase of 50% compared to the whole of 2020. twenty three.
The sanctions are designed to stop Tornado Cash, but their effectiveness depends on users directing their funds through specific centralized exchanges with strict KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures. However, the anonymity of cryptocurrency wallets makes it easy to create one that circumvents these controls to some extent.
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