Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has contributed to a significant legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. According to a Dec. 31 post by the Juicebox project Free Pertsev and Storm, Buterin donated 50 Ether (ETH) — about $170,000 at the time of publication — to Storm and Pertsev’s legal aid. The contribution makes up about 25% of the total $650,000 raised by the Tornado Cash developer through JusticeDAO.

In 2022, Dutch authorities arrested Pertsev in connection with the crypto mixing service and convicted him of money laundering in May 2024. Pertsev will appeal the decision. U.S. prosecutors later charged Storm and Roman Semenov with money laundering, sanctions violations, and fraud. The allegations against Tornado developers appear to stem from the US Treasury Department adding the mixer to the Specially Designated Nationals list in August 2022. What is your take on the crypto community’s reaction? Share your thoughts in the comments.