The audiobook version 🏴‍☠️

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Note: the audio article and the thread diverge—the audio goes into significantly greater detail. So if you enjoyed the thread, give it a listen for a deeper take. \m/

Privacy is the heresy. Code is the blasphemy. Roman Storm is the witch. And if we let them burn the builder, .they won’t need to regulate the tools. No one will build them again. 🧵 /end.

Roman Storm didn’t help bad actors. He just failed to build a switch that would let the government undo what he made. And now, they’re trying to destroy him—to make sure no one builds like that again.

This isn’t about one protocol. It’s about outlawing systems that work without asking permission. It’s about scaring developers into building obedience into everything they make. It’s about reasserting narrative control through legal ritual.

If they win this case, here’s the precedent:. - Privacy is suspicious .- Immutability is criminal .- Open-source is liability .- Backendless means lawless .- Uncontrollable means guilty

It’s worse than the Apple case. Apple could help the FBI and *chose* not to. Storm couldn’t help—even if he wanted to. But to the DOJ, “can’t” has been taken to mean “won’t.”. So the immutability of the system becomes the evidence.

This isn’t about protecting victims. It’s about punishing resistance to override. They asked Storm to shut it down. He said he couldn’t. So they decided to say he never wanted to. They decided to burn the builder.

He charged a small fee to keep it running. Like every open-source wrapper from Heroku to Vercel. But that’s how they trap you:. If you don’t monetize, you’re reckless. If you do, you’re profiting from crime. There is no safe path.

They’ll say: but he ran a frontend. Yes. A user interface. A website wrapper. He even implemented sanctions geofencing. But anyone can use Tornado Cash directly via Ethereum. And they did. The frontend didn’t enable crime. It enabled usability.

That’s the new legal standard:. Build something someone bad might use. Make it accessible. Fail to shut it off (because you can’t). Boom. Conspiracy. A thoughtcrime invented retroactively and enforced after the fact.

So what’s the charge?. Conspiracy to launder money. Not because Storm helped criminals. Not because he worked with them. Not because he knew them. Because they used what he built. Years later. Without his knowledge.

You don’t ask a fire escape who it serves. You build it for when it’s needed. Privacy tools are the same. By the time someone needs them, it’s too late to ask for permission. Storm built one. That’s what made him dangerous.

Storm and his collaborators burned the keys. No admin. No updates. No remote kill switch. The protocol wasn't shut down—because it couldn’t be. That’s the sin: .They didn’t just make privacy. They made it permanent.

Tornado Cash is not a service. Not a website. Not a shell company. It’s a set of Ethereum smart contracts. They accept crypto, mix it with a pool, and let you withdraw it to a new address—without linkability. It’s privacy. Built into the chain.

Storm is being prosecuted not for what he did. But for building something the government couldn’t control. Something irreversible. Unapologetic. Indifferent to power. He built it. He can’t change it. That, they say, is a conspiracy.

🧵 Burn the Builder. Roman Storm didn’t launder money. He didn’t steal. He didn’t hack. He didn’t help anyone hide their crimes. What he did was write code. Code that worked—and couldn’t be unmade. And for that, he’s facing prison.

RT @TheFreeThought2: This is not justice. It's a war on our privacy. Article by: @MattAgorist

RT @AaronRDay: S2E19 GENIUS and CLARITY Acts passed unleashing massive surveillance and technocracy. Discussing it live now! .