Privacy remains one of the most contested topics in crypto. Recently, Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin publicly backed Roman Storm, the Tornado Cash developer facing serious legal charges, openly endorsing privacy-preserving tools and even revealing he's personally relied on them for his own transactions. Storm's trial has produced mixed outcomes—he was convicted on unlicensed money transmission charges, but the jury deadlocked on more severe allegations involving money laundering and sanctions violations. The case underscores the tension between financial privacy advocates and regulators scrutinizing mixing protocols. Whether privacy tools deserve protection or face prohibition continues to divide the community, with influential voices like Buterin pushing back against what they see as overreach.