Ether's founder, Vitalik, generously donated 170,000 ETH to support Tornado Cash mixer developers in their legal battles.

Ether Square founder Vitalik Buterin donated 50 Ethercoins (approximately $170,000) on 12/31 to support the legal fees of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.

Tornado Cash and developers encounter numerous legal issues

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury listed the mixer Tornado Cash on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) blacklist in August 2022, accusing Tornado Cash of being used by illicit actors such as North Korean hackers to conceal illicit sources of funds. Subsequently, Dutch authorities arrested Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev and charged him with money laundering. In May 2024, Pertsev was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Meanwhile, the US prosecutors also brought charges against other co-developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov during the same period, accusing them of money laundering, contempt of court, and fraud. Currently, Storm was released on bail before the trial on 4/14 last year, while Semenov has not been arrested and is still at large.

Status of Vitalik's Donation and Defense Costs Fundraising

Vitalik provided approximately 50 Ethercoins in this donation to support the legal fees of Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.

In addition, Vitalik also raised approximately $240,000 worth of Ethercoin (ETH), totaling 100 coins, for Pertsev and Storm through the crowdfunding platform Juicebox in October 2023. These funds will be used for the defense fees of the two developers. Currently, the total amount raised for Storm and Pertsev's defense fees is approximately $650,000, with some support from JusticeDAO.

Currently, the fundraising situation of JusticeDAO has caused strong dissatisfaction in the coin circle due to sanctions and accusations.

After Tornado Cash was sanctioned and its developers accused, many users and crypto advocacy groups expressed dissatisfaction with the US government. Some critics believe that the government's sanctions have overreached, especially targeting immutable smart contracts.

According to ChainNews' previous report, the U.S. Appeals Court ruled that OFAC had exceeded its authority in November last year, stating that Tornado Cash's smart contract is not considered 'property,' but the case is not yet fully resolved. How to curb potential illegal use while balancing innovation and privacy protection is a challenge that global regulatory agencies will need to face in the future.

(Interpreting the Tornado Cash case: the court's crucial determination on smart contracts will change the regulatory landscape of DeFi)

This article Ether founder Vitalik donated 170,000 ETH to help Tornado Cash mixer developers deal with lawsuits, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.