Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has publicly backed Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, who is facing a potential five-year prison sentence. Storm was found guilty in August of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business, although the jury could not agree on other charges related to money laundering and sanctions violations.
Storm argues that his case criminalizes coding, equating the use of privacy tools with illicit activities. He emphasized, "the right to privacy is a human right," and called for community support to highlight the importance of open-source software.
“The fight for my freedom—and for the future of open-source software—is at a critically important moment,” he stated.
Buterin responded to Storm's appeal, reaffirming his commitment to privacy and highlighting the critical role of tools like Tornado Cash in protecting individuals from data misuse by both governments and corporations. He criticized the notion that government agencies should have unrestricted access to personal information, citing the risks of data breaches and unauthorized sales of sensitive data.
