Vitalik Buterin Donates 100 ETH to Tornado Cash Developer’s Legal Defence Fund

Highlights:

• Vitalik Buterin donated 100 ETH to Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s legal defense fund, his third contribution.
• If convicted on all charges, Storm could face a prison sentence of up to 45 years.
• Despite sanctions, the Tornado Cash mixer approached nearly $2 billion in deposits during H1 2024.

According to on-chain data provider SpotonChain, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin offloaded some popular meme coins, like $KABOSU, $NEIRO, $DEGEN, and $MOODENG, along with the stablecoin $USDT, on Oct. 6. The data shows that Buterin these holdings for a total of 140.7 Ethereum (ETH) coins.

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Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) just sold $341K worth of meme-coins #MOODENG, $DEGEN, $NEIRO, $KABOSU, and stablecoin $USDT for 140.67 $ETH in the past 30 minutes.

At the same time, he also sent 100 $ETH ($242K) to the “Free Alexey & Roman” campaign, supporting the legal… pic.twitter.com/XYjf2ZVI8g

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) October 5, 2024

In a related move, he donated 100 ETH (worth approximately $242,000) to Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s legal defense fund — marking the third time the notable crypto builder has contributed to the cause.

According to the Defend Roman Storm crowdsourcing page, the developer’s defense fund has received 148 different payments. These contributions total over 327 ETH, valued at roughly $785,000 at the time of writing. After receiving the donations, Storm thanked Buterin for his support.

Thank you @VitalikButerin for donating another 100 ETH to Roman Storm's legal aid on Juicebox 🫡

This is the third time Vitalik has donated to the campaign and we are extremely grateful for his support. pic.twitter.com/ehgvtadOXu

— Free Pertsev & Storm (@FreeAlexeyRoman) October 5, 2024

Tornado Cash Developers Indicted on Serious Charges

Along with fellow Tornado Cash developer Roman Semenov, Storm was indicted on three charges related to their work with the privacy mixer last August. The charges include conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Powers Act, which involves breaching international sanctions.

During a telephonic hearing at the end of September, a New York judge decided that the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm would move forward to trial.

On September 26, 2024, District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) rejected Storm’s motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him. Failla stated that the charges against Storm were not unfounded and that she “cannot simply accept Mr. Storm’s narrative that he is being prosecuted merely for writing code.” Storm pleaded not guilty to the charges, asserting that Tornado Cash is open-source software accessible to everyone and not controlled by its developers.

A trial for the Tornado Cash developers is scheduled in December this year in the New York District Court. If convicted on all three charges, Storm could face a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. This possibility has unsettled the crypto community and sparked significant support for the beleaguered software developers.

Judge Failla has GRANTED Roman Storm's motion to delay his criminal trial for operating Tornado Cash. New trial date is December 2. Full writeup of a very interesting hearing coming soon.

— David Z. Morris (@davidzmorris) July 12, 2024

Is Tornado Cash Involved in Money Laundering?

A recent report from Certik reveals that hackers have used Tornado Cash in several major money-laundering cases during Q3 2024. The crypto mixer provides privacy by anonymizing transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. Originally launched to enhance user privacy, it has become a preferred platform for cybercriminals to launder funds.

However, crypto veterans like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin support using crypto privacy tools to manage their assets. He has previously spoken out against the wrongful arrest of the Tornado Cash developers.

#CertiKInsight 🚨

In Q3 2024, in 30 out of the 156 incidents we recorded, @TornadoCash was the sole method used for laundering, accounting for ~$287M of stolen funds.

In 66 of the incidents stolen funds have yet to be laundered or returned. pic.twitter.com/a7cgSyRttA

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) October 4, 2024

Despite sanctions from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and legal pressure from United Stated officials, deposits into the Tornado Cash mixer hit around $1.9 billion in the first half of 2024. This marks a 50% increase compared to the total deposits from the previous year. The sanctions were effective only if Tornado Cash users intended to route funds through OFAC-compliant centralized exchanges with know-your-customer controls. These targeted wallet addresses are pseudonymous and can be created on demand.

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