Vitalik Buterin calls on Trump to defend developers: “No one is left behind”

• No man left behind unites the community
• Tornado Cash gains new legal prominence
• Developers seek Trump's support

Donald Trump’s recent decision to pardon Ross Ulbricht, founder of the now-defunct Silk Road, has fueled calls for clemency for other prominent figures in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The Ethereum community, led by Vitalik Buterin, has stepped up its movement in defense of Virgil Griffith, Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, all linked to the Tornado Cash project.

Buterin reinforced his position by stating: “No one is left behind,” underlining the need for unity to protect those who, according to supporters, are unfairly penalized. For him, the arrest of Griffith, accused of violating sanctions by allegedly instructing the use of blockchain in North Korea, and the situation of Storm and Pertsev, prosecuted for money laundering and violating sanctions, need to be reviewed, especially after the legal turnaround that favored Tornado Cash.

No man left behind. @rstormsf and @alex_pertsev next.

Tornado Cash itself won an important case today: https://t.co/ceF9IKlllC https://t.co/zg69SmZY8K

- vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 22, 2025

In a post addressed to Roman Storm, Buterin stated in a loose translation: “You created Tornado largely at my suggestion, because we thought it was worth building. It would violate basic honor if I did that and then didn’t support you in your time of need. On Ethereum, we protect our own and maintain our honor.”

Ross Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for his role in Silk Road, an online marketplace that facilitated illegal Bitcoin transactions. His release came after years of campaigning in the cryptocurrency industry, culminating in Trump signing an executive order. Now, attention is turning to the developers involved in Tornado Cash, especially since a court recently ruled that the protocol cannot be considered a sanctionable entity, but rather a set of code.

In another account, a community member noted in a loose translation: “Here’s my take on Ross and us: — no Silk Road, no Bitcoin economy, no crypto industry — it’s about showing that ‘no one gets left behind’ if they are true enthusiasts / the system punishes them unfairly (the Tornado guys are next).”

The expectation is that the decision on Tornado Cash, combined with the pardon granted to Ulbricht, will positively influence the situation of Griffith, Storm and Pertsev, opening more debates on the responsibility of developers in privacy tools and emphasizing the importance of legal and political support.