Ethereum dev arrested in Turkey ups Roman Storm donation to $500K
Ethereum core developer Federico Carrone, who was arrested in Turkey this week after the government accused him of helping others misuse the protocol, has donated $500,000 to Roman Storm’s legal fund.
Carrone had initially planned to donate a more modest $50,000 to the Tornado Cash founder’s legal costs after his release on Monday, but decided instead “to take a clear position so everyone understands what [Lambda Class] stands for.”
The charitable gesture is in response to Turkey’s Minister of Internal Affairs filing a case against Carrone, alleging that he helped facilitate the misuse of Ethereum via an privacy protocol called Tutelo.
Read more: Cork hacker sends ETH to Tornado Cash, donates to Roman Storm’s fund
In 2022, Carrone published a research paper about the Tutelo code. It assessed the level of privacy with Ethereum transactions as part of his work with the tech venture studio and investment firm Lambda Class.
The code was able to determine three things: it could link Ethereum addresses together that are likely created by the same entity, it could reveal “potentially compromised transactions” to users, and it could determine how many transactions in a Tornado Cash pool are actually anonymous.
Federico Carrone’s donation stands behind crypto builders
Speaking about the sizeable donation, Carrone described how open source and decentralization are “practical necessities for building crypto.”
“Our mission is to help build the highways of the new internet in sustainable ways. Economic sustainability is one part of that, but not the only one. We also exist to counterbalance the natural pull toward centralization, a side effect of pure optimization,” he said.
He also claimed that Storm’s legal defense is important for crypto builders pushing for innovation so that they know “the community will stand behind them.”
Read more: Tornado Cash user hacks SuperRare staking contract, steals $730K in RARE
The Ethereuem Foundation has again said it will match up to $500,000 in donations to Storm’s legal fund.
Storm was found guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business last week, while two other charges were undecided by the jury.
The outcome of his case has upset privacy and free speech advocates across the DeFi sector.
Some have commented on Carrone’s arrest and implied that Turkey’s judicial system isn’t up to scratch. The Rage reporter @L0laL33tz noted that contributors of privacy tech should get “a criminal defense lawyer on speed dial and avoid jurisdictions with questionable justice systems.”
Both @L0laL33tz and MyCrypto founder Taylor Monahan claimed that the US’s approach to crypto has led to the events in Turkey this week, as countries with weaker judicial systems follow its lead.
Carrone is now back in Europe. However, his ordeal in Turkey isn’t over yet as his defense attorney works on his still-standing case.
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