Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stepped forward with a substantial donation to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.
According to a December 31 post by the Juicebox project “Free Pertsev and Storm,” Buterin contributed 50 Ether (ETH), valued at approximately $170,000 at the time, to the fund aimed at aiding the developers as they face serious legal challenges.
The donation constitutes about 25% of the $650,000 currently available to the Tornado Cash developers through JusticeDAO, a community-driven initiative dedicated to funding their legal battles.
Buterin Continues to Support Tornado Cash Devs
Buterin had previously donated 100 ETH, then valued at $240,000, in October, signaling his consistent support for the developers amid growing concerns about government overreach in the crypto space.
The legal troubles for the Tornado Cash team began in 2022 when Dutch authorities arrested Pertsev, later charging him with money laundering for his involvement with the cryptocurrency mixing service.
In May 2024, Pertsev was found guilty and sentenced to over five years in prison. He is currently appealing the verdict.
Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors charged Storm and fellow developer Roman Semenov with money laundering, sanctions violations, and fraud. Storm, released on bail, is scheduled to stand trial on April 14, while Semenov remains at large.
The charges stem largely from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) decision to sanction Tornado Cash in August 2022, adding it to its Specially Designated Nationals list.
Authorities allege the mixer facilitated the laundering of more than $7 billion in cryptocurrency, including funds linked to North Korean hackers.
The sanctions and subsequent criminal charges have sparked outrage within the crypto community.
Critics argue that targeting Tornado Cash’s developers undermines the principles of decentralized technology and freedom.
Lawsuits challenging the Treasury’s actions have been filed by groups such as Coin Center and Tornado Cash users backed by Coinbase.
While an appellate court ruled in November that OFAC had “overstepped” by sanctioning immutable smart contracts associated with Tornado Cash, the ruling has not impacted the criminal cases against Storm and Pertsev.
Buterin Asks Elon Musk to Tame Heated Rhetoric on X
Buterin has also recently called on Elon Musk to moderate the tone of his discussions on X following a controversial exchange regarding foreign tech workers in the United States.
In a Dec. 31 post, Buterin acknowledged Musk’s commitment to free speech but urged him to “turn down the temperature” on the platform’s discourse.
Buterin’s comments were a response to Musk’s expletive-laden post defending the rights of immigrants working under H1B visas, which sparked backlash from conservative users who argued such policies disadvantage native U.S. workers.
Accusations of censorship also emerged as some critics claimed their accounts were stripped of premium features after opposing Musk’s stance.
Buterin said it is important to maintain free speech principles even amid disagreement, warning that centralized control over social media “banhammers” could shift unpredictably.
Musk’s controversial stance has reignited debates over the balance between free expression and platform governance.
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