GoFundMe canceled the crowdfunding campaign for the Tornado Cash legal dispute on the grounds of a violation of the terms of service. Each donor received their full contribution back from the fundraiser.
Roman Storm, co-founder and developer of the controversial cryptocurrency aggregator Tornado Cash, and Alexey Pertsev, did not qualify for legal fees. In an effort to cover these expenses, the American crowdfunding platform GoFundMe terminated a campaign to collect the funds.
Storm appealed to community members on January 22 to contribute to the legal expenses associated with its pending court case against United States authorities, which it claims enabled the bypassing of U.S. sanctions.
GoFundMe terminated the fundraiser on February 14, citing the Tornado Cash duo’s violation of Term 22 of their terms of service, despite the fact that contributions had begun to pour in. It suggests that by utilizing the Tornado Cash fundraiser to collect legal fees, “GoFundMe, its employees, or users may be subject to any liability or damage of any kind.”
A considerable number of contributors, including Ryan Adams of Bankless Ventures, had their funds returned due to the cancellation of the GoFundMe campaign.
He made a commitment to reimburse Storm the $10,000 he initially contributed using cryptocurrencies. The funds will be deposited into the donors’ bank accounts within three to seven business days, as confirmed by GoFundMe.
GoFundMe for Tornado Cash had accumulated $30,000 in contributions while it was active. Storm and Pertsev intend to amass $1.5 million in order to finance their legal representation in the United States. At present, the pair is supported by JuiceBox, a cryptocurrency funding platform through which 316.75 Ether have been amassed.
Nevertheless, the decision of GoFundMe to terminate the fundraisers raises doubts within the Tornado Cash community, given that the platform previously permitted analogous campaigns to materialize.
Storm and Semenov are currently facing charges of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to violate sanctions, and conspiracy to operate an unauthorized money-transmitting enterprise. Nevertheless, they appeal all allegations pertaining to money laundering and contraventions of United States sanctions with a not-guilty plea. Storm is currently free on a $2 million bond and is subject to travel restrictions within specific regions of New York, New Jersey, Washington, and California.
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