Ethereum Foundation Backs Tornado Cash Developer with $500K Legal Defense Fund

Key Points

1. The Ethereum Foundation announced a $500,000 donation to fund Roman Storm's legal defense, emphasizing that 'privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.'

2. Roman Storm was convicted under 18 U.S. Code Section 1960 for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, facing up to 5 years in prison.

3. The crypto community, including lawyer Jake Chervinsky, criticized the verdict, arguing that Section 1960 should not apply to non-custodial protocol developers.

4. Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 for allegedly laundering $7 billion, including funds linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group.

5. The case has raised concerns about the precedent it sets for open-source development and DeFi, with calls for an appeal.