Ethereum Foundation Pledges $1.25 Million for Tornado Cash Co-Founder's Legal Defense

The Ethereum Foundation has pledged $500,000 to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, who is facing federal charges in the United States. In addition to this direct donation, the foundation has announced that it will match up to $750,000 in community contributions, effectively creating a $1.25 million war chest to shield Storm from the legal battle ahead.

Storm is scheduled to stand trial on July 14, 2025, in Manhattan federal court. He is charged with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, conspiracy to launder money, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions. The Ethereum Foundation's donation is seen as a stand for privacy and open-source development, with the foundation stating, “Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.”

Storm was indicted in August 2023 for his role in building and maintaining Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer accused of facilitating the laundering of over $1 billion in illicit funds. The service allegedly allowed users to obscure the source and destination of transactions, an activity that U.S. authorities say was exploited by hackers and criminal networks to move stolen assets.

Storm’s trial comes at a time when prosecutors and regulators are increasing their scrutiny of crypto tools tied to privacy and decentralization. His defense has argued that the case threatens the foundation of decentralized finance (DeFi) by criminalizing open-source development. Storm himself has expressed concern that a loss in his trial could spell the end for DeFi, stating, “If I lose, DeFi dies with me.”

His co-founder, Roman Semenov, was also charged in the case but remains at large, reportedly in Russia. A third developer, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted of money laundering by a Dutch court in May and sentenced to more than five years in prison. He is currently under electronic monitoring as his appeal progresses.

Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2022. The agency claimed the tool had facilitated over $7 billion in illicit transactions since 2019 and failed to adopt safeguards against criminal misuse. Storm’s legal team previously sought to dismiss the charges, arguing that OFAC overstepped its authority by sanctioning the mixer’s smart contracts.

With the trial approaching, the Ethereum Foundation’s contribution marks one of the most high-profile shows of support yet for Storm. This support raises broader questions about how far developers should be held responsible for permissionless code.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also donated 50 ETH, worth around $170,000 in January 2025, to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. The contribution was confirmed through the Juicebox project “Free Pertsev and Storm,” which has so far raised over $650,000 through JusticeDAO, a decentralized fund backed by the crypto community.

Buterin’s support follows mounting legal pressure on the developers. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed it would proceed with federal charges against Storm, including allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations. The charge relating to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business was later dropped. The legal campaign against Storm has also sparked backlash across the crypto space.

In April, the DeFi Education Fund urged the Trump administration to step in, calling the DOJ’s actions a “lawless prosecution” of open-source software developers. The petition has since gained momentum, with signatures from key industry figures including Coinbase’s Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm’s Matt Huang, and Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko.