Ethereum developer Fede’s Intern out after 24-hour detention in Turkey

Ethereum developer detained: After being detained by Turkish authorities over alleged misuse of the Ethereum network, Ethereum core developer Federico Carrone, who goes by Fede’s Intern on X, has been released and is now in Europe.

Carrone was detained for 24 hours before his close connections from across various countries — including the UAE, UK, US, and Argentina — and even members of the Solana ecosystem intervened to secure his release.

“I’m finally out, safe and free. There was a small moment where things looked very bad but thanks to help from many I got released,” the developer wrote in an Aug. 11 X post.

Why was Ethereum developer detained?

When Carrone was detained, the only information available was that the Turkish Minister of Internal Affairs had accused him of “helping others misuse Ethereum.”

Carrone believes it may have had something to do with a January 2022 academic paper and accompanying code he and his team published, which analyzed privacy on Ethereum and Tornado Cash.

Notably, the research paper demonstrated how it was possible to deanonymize users of cryptocurrency mixing services like Tornado Cash, something Carrone claims was strictly for research purposes only.

Carrone, who has previously argued that “privacy is not a crime,” maintained he wasn’t part of any wrongdoing and stressed that the paper was designed to understand the inner workings of the protocol.

“We never helped anyone engage in illegal activity, it was purely research on mixers and their properties,” he said.

However, Carrone clarified that he still does not have the complete picture of why the detention occurred, but is assembling a legal team to address the matter.

Connections and community help secure release

As of press time, the Ethereum core dev has confirmed he has returned to Europe with help from his associates and even the Catholic Church. Help also came from several members of the Solana ecosystem, who notably offered contacts and were inclined to offer their assistance.

“I will never forget their help and hope to one day give back to everyone who supported me,” Carrone added.

He recalled how, at one point, he was informed that officials were preparing to confiscate his phone and restrict outside contact. Fortunately, some of his contacts were able to reach out to government figures, which ultimately led to his release.

Despite his concerning experience in Turkey, Carrone said he remains open to returning to Turkey to defend himself once the legal situation becomes clearer, with his Turkish Attorney already working on his defense.

Is open-source development under threat?

Carrone’s arrest fits into a broader push by authorities to target developers connected to privacy tools.

Plenty of developers behind open-source privacy tools have faced charges in recent years, but Tornado Cash’s Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm remain the most talked about.

Many in the blockchain community warn that prosecuting developers over privacy protocols could make the act of writing code a crime, even when that code can be used legally.

Storm was found guilty of operating an unlicensed money transmitter earlier this month and is facing charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations.

Following his own detention, Carrone donated $500,000 worth of Ether to Storm’s legal defense, ten times the amount his investment firm Lambda Class had initially planned to contribute.

He said the incident in Turkey underscored the importance of ensuring that developers know “the community will stand behind them” when they innovate.

“Progress came from protecting those who challenged the status quo and building systems that allowed their ideas to scale. When we stop defending our innovators, we stop building the future,” he wrote in a Tuesday X post.

Carrone’s case also echoes that of Virgil Griffith, an early Ethereum contributor who served nearly five years in prison in the United States. Griffith was arrested in 2019 for speaking at a blockchain conference in North Korea, where prosecutors said he explained how the country could use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions.

As with Storm and Carrone, the Griffith case left the blockchain community debating where legitimate research ends and criminal activity begins.