Cryptocurrency

Vitalik Buterin Donates 170k to Legal Fund of Tornado Cash Developers

Table of Contents

A Significant Contribution to the Legal Defense Fund

On December 31, a post from the Juicebox project Free Pertsev and Storm, revealed that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had made a significant contribution to the legal defense fund for Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. According to the post, Buterin donated 50 Ether (ETH), which is equivalent to approximately $170,000 at the time of publication.

The Importance of the Donation

The donation was seen as about 25% of the total $650,000 available to Storm through JusticeDAO ahead of his trial. This contribution highlights the importance of Buterin’s support for the Tornado Cash developers who are facing serious charges in relation to their involvement with the cryptocurrency mixing service.

Background on the Charges Against Tornado Cash Developers

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.

The US Prosecutors’ Charges Against Storm and Semenov

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.

The Role of US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control

Many of the criminal charges against the Tornado developers seemed 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. Buterin’s donation was seen as a significant contribution to the legal defense fund, which aims to support Storm and Pertsev in their fight against the charges.

Buterin’s Previous Donation to the Free Pertsev and Storm Juicebox

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 Ongoing Legal Battle Against US Treasury’s Sanctions

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.

Conclusion

Buterin’s donation is a significant contribution to the legal defense fund and highlights his support for the Tornado Cash developers who are facing serious charges. The ongoing legal battle against US Treasury’s sanctions is a complex issue that has drawn outrage from many in the crypto industry. As the situation continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see how it affects the development of cryptocurrencies like Ethereum.

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