The crypto community is relieved as Trump pardoned Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. Now, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and others in the ETH community are urging the release of Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith and Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm. As a result, the Ethereum community is now asking for Trump’s assistance in this matter.
The Ethereum community is requesting that the U.S. government release Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, and developer Alexey Pertsev. These requests came shortly after Trump issued an executive order to pardon Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence without parole for founding and running Silk Road.
Vitalik said,
“No man left behind,” and also asked for Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm to be freed.
Shortly after President Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who had been serving life sentences for operating the illicit Silk Road marketplace, the Ethereum community called for similar clemency for their own. Ulbricht’s pardon came after years of support from Bitcoin enthusiasts, given his role in establishing a platform that traded in illegal goods.
Meanwhile, Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith is serving a 56-month prison term after admitting to sanctions violations. In 2019, he was accused of traveling to North Korea to present ways blockchain technology could be used to circumvent sanctions.
Roman Storm, another key figure in the crypto space and co-founder of Tornado Cash, faces charges related to money laundering and sanctions breaches linked to his work with the crypto platform.
Storm has sought to have the charges dismissed, claiming they violate his First Amendment rights, and his trial has been postponed. His recent social media post discussing his legal challenges drew significant attention, with many in the space reaching out to figures like Trump and Elon Musk for support.
Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, has called his legal troubles a serious threat to privacy. He was arrested in August 2023 and will go to trial in April 2025 for charges including money laundering. The case has raised concerns about treating software development as a crime, leading to another developer suing the Department of Justice.
A recent court decision ordered the removal of Tornado Cash from a U.S. Treasury sanctions list, acknowledging that smart contracts operate independently. This ruling suggests that laws need to be updated to better handle technologies like cryptocurrency mixers without troubling their operation.
Buterin said, “You created Tornado in significant part because of my suggestion that it is something worth building. It would violate basic honor for me to do that, and then fail to support you in your hour of need. In Ethereum we protect our own, and uphold our honor.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy stated that authorities should focus on pursuing the actual criminals breaking the law rather than targeting developers.
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