Vitalik Supports Roman Storm and Calls for U.S. Leadership in Privacy and Security

Ethereum founder Vitalik expressed support for Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, emphasizing the potential for a safer, less data-leaky world led by the United States. Vitalik highlighted that Storm's upcoming trial, set to begin in ten days, is based on the belief that anonymization services should not be classified under money transmission license regulations, referencing U.S. FinCEN guidelines from 2019. With privacy tools like Signal gaining acceptance among civilians and officials, and frequent breaches of centralized databases in sectors like payments and AI, Vitalik reminds us that privacy and security are intrinsically linked and should not be viewed as opposing forces. He urges the U.S. to lead efforts toward a world with enhanced security, greater freedom, and reduced data leaks, calling on developers to recognize the importance of this work.