Ethereum News Today: Ethereum Foundation Matches $500K for Tornado Cash Co-Founder's Legal Defense

The Ethereum Foundation has pledged to match up to $500,000 in community donations to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency mixing protocol. The initiative aims to raise $1.5 million for Storm’s appeal, with the matching funds intended to cover rising legal costs. This marks an extension of the Foundation’s earlier financial support, which included a $500,000 direct donation and a $750,000 matching commitment in June 2025 [1].

Storm currently faces a Manhattan federal court trial on one count of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, carrying a potential five-year prison sentence if the appeal fails. The jury deadlocked on two more serious charges—conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions—leaving open the possibility of a retrial. If those charges are pursued, Storm could face decades in prison, raising significant concerns among advocates of decentralized finance (DeFi) and privacy-enhancing technologies [1].

The Tornado Cash project, which allows users to anonymize transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, has drawn scrutiny from U.S. authorities who allege it has been used for illicit activities, including laundering funds for groups like North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Storm’s defense argues that the open-source nature of the protocol means it operates independently of its developers, and prosecuting coders for how users apply the technology could set a dangerous precedent in the tech and crypto space. This perspective is supported by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation [1].

The legal battle has become a pivotal moment in the cryptocurrency industry, highlighting broader debates over developer liability, privacy rights, and the regulatory landscape for decentralized technologies. The case follows the U.S. Treasury’s decision in March 2025 to lift sanctions against Tornado Cash, signaling a potential shift in how regulators approach open-source blockchain tools [1].

The Ethereum Foundation’s contribution reflects a growing trend of institutional backing for privacy-enhancing innovations and legal defense efforts within the crypto community. The campaign, led by the advocacy group Free Pertsev & Storm, encourages global participation to strengthen the legal defense through the Foundation’s matching program [1].

Source: [1] Ethereum Foundation Donates $500K For Tornado Cash Co-Founder (https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/68964ca955ec7778c0d4925a/)