Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has donated 30 ETH (worth approximately $113,000) to the legal defense fund of Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. The donation was made through Juicebox, a decentralized fundraising platform. The fund, named "Free Alexey & Roman," has raised nearly 596 ETH, equivalent to about $2.2 million.

Buterin's support for privacy tools in the crypto space is well-known, and this move aligns with his previous actions. He has consistently advocated for privacy in crypto transactions and has published numerous papers on enhancing Ethereum’s privacy. This donation is not his first to a similar cause; in 2022, he donated 10 ETH to a legal fund supporting Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

Tornado Cash, a privacy-focused tool enabling anonymous crypto transactions, has been under scrutiny due to its misuse by criminals for money laundering and other illicit activities. This led to sanctions by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August 2022. Pertsev and Storm, developers of Tornado Cash, are facing legal challenges for allegedly facilitating these illegal activities. Buterin's donation is a clear sign of support for the beleaguered developers and the larger cause of privacy in the crypto industry.