Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), has made a significant contribution to support Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm in their legal battle. On May 30th, Buterin transferred 30 ETH, equivalent to $113,678, to the “Free Alexey & Roman” legal fund, according to data from the Ethereum blockchain explorer, Etherscan.
Tornado Cash is a coin mixing service based on the Ethereum network, which enables anonymous cryptocurrency transactions. In 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on the platform, alleging that it was being used for money laundering and posed a threat to national security.
As a result, the developers of Tornado Cash faced charges. Pertsev was recently sentenced to 64 months in jail by a district court in the Netherlands for laundering billions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency. Storm was also arrested by US authorities last year and, along with fellow developer Roman Semenov, was charged by the Justice Department for allegedly assisting the North Korean hacking group Lazarus in laundering their criminal proceeds.
Earlier this year, Storm appealed for donations to support his legal defense. In a video posted on the social media platform X, he emphasized the potential implications of the trial outcome on the future of digital assets.
To date, the legal fund on the decentralized fundraising platform Juicebox has raised 597.07 ETH, equivalent to $2.25 million. The initiative states that Roman and Alexey’s legal expenses amount to $90,000 to $100,000 per month.
“Roman and Alex need your help to build a strong defense not just for their sake, but for crypto users and developers worldwide. In response to the arrests, a group of sympathizers came together to form WeWantJusticeDAO to advocate on their behalf and help raise funds for legal defense. However, time and money are running out, and we need your support.”
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