Ethereum Foundation Pledges $500K for Tornado Cash Founder’s Legal Defense

Ethereum Foundation announced that it would be donating $500,000 to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm. Storm is currently facing charges over allegations that he was running the crypto mixing services at Tornado Cash as an unlicensed money transmitter.

Ethereum Foundation to Match Crypto Community Donations

Apart from pledging the $500K, the Ethereum Foundation said that it would it would also match up an additional $750K in donations that come in the crypto community. In a message on the X platform, the Foundation wrote:

“The EF is donating $500K to the legal defense of Roman Storm, and we will match up to a further $750K in donations from the community. Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.”

The trial of Roman Storm will begin on July 14 in New York, as he faces charges of money laundering, conspiracy to violate US sanctions, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter.

Interestingly, this hearing comes as the crypto regulatory landscape in America is undergoing a major shift with some crypto-friendly policies of the Trump administration. But despite positive developments, CFTC chair Caroline Pham said they won’t leave a loose end in addressing criminal activities.

Roman Storm’s legal team moved to dismiss all charges last December 2024 after a judge ruled that the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had overstepped its authority by sanctioning Tornado Cash’s smart contracts. Earlier this year, virtual capital firm Paradigm also invested $1.25 million in the legal defense of the Tornado Cash Founder.

Tornado Cash Founder Says DoJ Blocking Key Witnesses

Roman Storm stated that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is obstructing his defense by rejecting five out of six expert witnesses he proposed for his upcoming trial.

Among the witnesses, blockchain expert Matthew Edman was the only one partially accepted. However, Storm claimed the DOJ imposed severe restrictions on Edman’s testimony. This further limits his ability to provide critical insights on blockchain technology. He said that the DoJ is planning to put an end to the decentralized finance (DeFi) market. In a message on the X platform, Storm noted:

😔💔 I’m Roman Storm. I poured my soul into Tornado Cash—software that’s non-custodial, trustless, permissionless, immutable, unstoppable. In 31 days, I face trial. The DOJ wants to bury DeFi, saying I should’ve controlled it, added KYC, never built it. SDNY is trying to crush…

— Roman Storm 🇺🇸 🌪️ (@rstormsf) June 13, 2025

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