The two tech and crypto giants of today, Elon Musk and Vitalik Buterin has collided online, with Buterin harshly criticizing Musk for his aggressive approach to free speech and his excessive use of "Banhammer."

In his X post, Buterin expressed his admiration for Musk's willingness to defend free speech, but he (Musk) has to moderate the tone of debates on the platform and avoid excessive censoring of users.

Buterin's comments comes in response to Musk’s contentious remarks about H1B visa holders, which sparked backlash and claims of censorship.Musk's post defended the rights of immigrant workers under the H1B1 visas sparked fury among conservative users who argued that such polities disadvantage native U.S workers.

Musk was accused by critics of removing accounts and premium features from those who criticized his stance on H1B visa holders.

Buterin hence warned Elon Musk as a leader in the public debate realms, Musk should not be using his power in ways that harm humanity and stressed the importance of leaders in setting the tone for public debates.

Buterin makes a second contribution to Cash Tornado

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made a second contribution to the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, after his first donation in October of last year, demonstrating his ongoing support to the embattled creators of the cryptocurrency mixing service.

According to an update from Juicebox's "Free Pertsev and Storm" project on the 31st of December, Buterin donated 50 Ether valued at approximately $170,000 to aid the developers of Tornado Cash who are fighting a huge legal battle.

The donation from Buterin makes up 35% of the $650,000 fund currently available to the developers through Justice DAO, a community-led initiative dedicated to their legal defense.

Back in October, Buterin contributed 100 ETH (worth $240,000 at the time), reinforcing his consistent stance against what he perceives as government overreach in the crypto industry.

Legal Struggles of Tornado Cash Developers

The Tornado Cash saga began in 2022 when Dutch authorities arrested Alexey Pertsev, later charging him with money laundering tied to the mixer. In May 2024, Pertsev was convicted and sentenced to over five years in prison, a decision he is currently appealing.

In the U.S., developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov face charges of money laundering, fraud, and sanctions violations. Storm, released on bail, is set to face trial on April 14, 2025, while Semenov remains at large.

These charges followed the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) decision to sanction Tornado Cash in August 2022. Authorities claimed that the mixer facilitated the laundering of over $7 billion in cryptocurrency, including funds tied to North Korean hackers.

The sanctions and subsequent legal actions have ignited widespread criticism in the crypto community. Many argue that targeting Tornado Cash’s developers undermines decentralization and the principles of freedom within blockchain technology.

Organizations such as Coin Center and Coinbase-backed Tornado Cash users have filed lawsuits challenging the Treasury’s sanctions.

Although an appellate court ruled in November that OFAC had overstepped its authority by sanctioning immutable smart contracts associated with Tornado Cash, the decision has yet to impact the criminal proceedings against Storm and Pertsev.