Svmuu News: Vitalik Buterin has expressed his support for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. Roman Storm was convicted in August 2025 of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmission business and currently faces up to five years in prison. In his letter, Vitalik Buterin emphasized that privacy tools are a necessary defense against systemic data exploitation and revealed that he has used the software on multiple occasions to support human rights charities. As of January 2026, Roman Storm’s legal defense fund had raised over $6.39 million in 2025. Previously, Vitalik Buterin donated 50 ETH in December 2024, worth approximately $170,000. The Ethereum Foundation also donated $500,000 in 2025 and pledged up to $750,000 in matching funds for community donations. Currently, global law enforcement actions targeting privacy-focused crypto tools are intensifying, and the founders of Samourai Wallet were each sentenced to four to five years in prison in November 2025.