In a recent development, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin made a significant contribution to the legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. According to a post on December 31 by the Juicebox project Free Pertsev and Storm, Buterin donated 50 Ether (ETH) – approximately $170,000 at the time of publication – to support Storm and Pertsev’s legal aid.
Donation Contributes Significantly to Total Fund
Storm stated that the contribution from Buterin was about 25% of the total $650,000 available to the Tornado Cash developer through JusticeDAO ahead of his trial. The donation from Buterin is a significant boost to the fund, which aims to support Storm and Pertsev as they face legal challenges related to their involvement with the cryptocurrency mixing service.
Background on the Case
In 2022, Dutch authorities arrested and charged Pertsev for his involvement with Tornado Cash. In May 2024, he was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to more than five years in prison. Pertsev will appeal the verdict.
United States prosecutors later charged Storm and fellow developer Roman Semenov with money laundering, sanctions violations, and fraud related to their roles with Tornado Cash. Storm was given bail conditions ahead of his trial, scheduled to begin on April 14, while Semenov remained at large at the time of publication.
US Treasury’s Sanctions Against Tornado Cash
The criminal charges against the Tornado developers seem to stem from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control adding the mixer to its Specially Designated Nationals list in August 2022. US officials said at the time that bad actors, including North Korean hackers, had used Tornado Cash to launder more than $7 billion worth of crypto since 2019.
Legal Outcry from Crypto Users
The sanctions against the mixer and criminal charges against the developers have drawn outrage from many in the crypto industry. The situation has sparked a legal outcry from crypto users, who argue that the US Treasury Department overstepped its authority in sanctioning the immutable smart contracts of Tornado Cash.
Lawsuits Filed Against US Treasury Department
The US Treasury Department faces two lawsuits filed by crypto advocacy group Coin Center and a group of Tornado Cash users backed by Coinbase. An appellate court said in November that the Treasury had ‘overstepped’ in sanctioning the crypto mixer’s immutable smart contracts, but the ruling did not appear to have affected the criminal case against Storm.
Vitalik Buterin’s Previous Contribution
In October, Buterin donated 100 ETH – roughly $240,000 at the time – to the Free Pertsev and Storm Juicebox. However, GoFundMe shut down a similar fundraising effort in February. The situation highlights the challenges faced by Tornado Cash developers as they navigate the complex legal landscape surrounding their involvement with the cryptocurrency mixing service.
Conclusion
The contribution from Vitalik Buterin is a significant development in the ongoing legal saga involving Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. As the case continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how the legal challenges will affect the crypto industry as a whole.
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