Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a letter in support of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, who faces up to five years in prison.
In August, a U.S. jury found the co-founder of the crypto mixer guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. However, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on charges of money laundering and sanctions violations.
Storm stated that in his case, authorities have criminalized coding, equating privacy tools with money laundering.
“But we know the truth: the right to privacy is a human right. Mathematics is not a crime. The fight for my freedom—and for the future of open-source software—is at a critical juncture. I need your voice to show the world that this community is united,” he wrote.
Buterin responded to his call, emphasizing that as a staunch advocate of privacy, he has supported Storm’s work from the beginning. He positioned privacy tools like Tornado Cash as essential protection against the misuse of personal data by government bodies and private corporations.
The expert categorically rejected the stance of those who believe that governments or intelligence agencies need full access to citizens’ confidential information for public safety. According to Buterin, such databases are regularly hacked or their contents simply sold.
He also noted that he personally used Tornado Cash for anonymous transactions when purchasing software, making charitable donations, and in several other instances.
Buterin described Storm as a “principled and resilient developer” defending the inalienable human right to privacy. He noted that the applications created by the programmer remain functional years after he stopped working on them.
“Roman, like me, wants to see a world where the fundamental guarantees of our rights, which were an undisputed standard in the past millennium, remain with us in the next. And that is why I support him,” Buterin concluded.
Earlier, Storm’s lawyers announced plans to file a motion to dismiss the trial against him.