Supporters appended messages like “Code is not a crime,” “Support freedom,” and “Open source is a form of free speech that everyone should have access to” to their donations.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 30 ETH (worth about $113,000) via decentralized fundraising platform Juicebox to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.
According to on-chain data, a transaction from an address associated with Buterin (named vitalik.eth) was made at 1:58 a.m. EST on May 30, and donated to the "Free Alexey & Roman" legal fund on Juicebox, which has raised 595.82 ETH, worth about $2.2 million. $ETH
Open source is not a crime
Crypto veterans including Buterin have long supported privacy tools for privately managing crypto assets. Buterin has published several papers on improving Ethereum privacy, so his move is not surprising.
Other supporters expressed solidarity by attaching messages of encouragement to their donations. Below their contributions, phrases such as “You have our support,” “Code is not a crime,” “Support freedom,” and “Open source is a form of free speech that everyone should enjoy” resonated strongly.
This is not the first time Buterin has donated to similar causes. In 2022, he donated 10 ETH (worth $30,980 at the time) to a legal fund ‘AssangeDAO’ on Juicebox in support of Australian activist and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Legal troubles facing developers
Tornado Cash is a privacy-focused tool that facilitates anonymous cryptocurrency transactions. However, its potential for abuse has led to it being used by criminals to launder, hack, or steal funds. This illegal activity has attracted the attention of law enforcement, leading to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposing sanctions on Tornado Cash in August 2022.
Shortly thereafter, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was arrested in Amsterdam on charges of hiding criminal financial flows and facilitating money laundering via a controversial Ethereum mixing service.
A year later, other developers like Roman Storm and Roman Semenov were charged with helping launder $1 billion, with Storm arrested in Washington state. Pertsev was sentenced to five years and four months in prison earlier this month.
Storm, meanwhile, has been detained in the United States since his arrest in 2023, with his trial scheduled for September.
Conclusion:
Vitalik Buterin's donation not only reflects his firm support for encryption technology and open source software, but also highlights the solidarity and mutual assistance of the encryption community in the face of legal challenges. This incident has once again triggered a wide-ranging discussion on the balance between the responsibility of technology developers and the freedom to innovate.
As the Tornado Cash developers’ legal case continues to develop, this support from the crypto community could have a profound impact on public opinion on privacy rights and open-source software. #TornadoCash #VitalikButerin #法律辩护
