Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Supports Tornado Cash Developers as They Face Legal Challenges

Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin has stepped in to support Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev as they face legal challenges stemming from their work with the cryptocurrency mixer.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stepped in to support Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev as they face legal challenges stemming from their work with the cryptocurrency mixer.

In a Dec. 31 announcement by the Juicebox project “Free Pertsev and Storm,” Buterin was credited with donating 50 Ether (ETH), valued at approximately $170,000, to assist with the developers’ legal expenses.

The donation forms part of a broader community effort to raise funds for Storm and Pertsev’s legal defense, with a goal of collecting $2.5 million.

According to the project's latest update, about $650,000 has been raised so far through JusticeDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) aiming to provide legal assistance to individuals facing legal troubles related to Web3 projects.

Storm is set to stand trial on April 14, facing charges from the United States related to money laundering, sanctions violations and fraud. Pertsev, on the other hand, was arrested by Dutch authorities in 2022 and later sentenced to over five years in prison for his alleged involvement in laundering illicit funds through Tornado Cash. He is currently appealing the verdict.

The Tornado Cash saga began in 2022 when Dutch authorities arrested Pertsev, followed by the U.S. charges against Storm and Semenov. The cryptocurrency mixer was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in August 2022, sparking widespread debate within the crypto community.