Vitalik Buterin contributes 30 ETH towards Tornado Cash legal defense fund.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, continues to show his support for Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm, who have been accused of money laundering.
On May 8, Buterin donated 30 ETH, worth around $113,000, to the Juicebox campaign called ‘Free Alexey & Roman.’ He has been a vocal advocate for Pertsev and Storm, expressing his disappointment with the verdict of their case. During his speech at DappCon in Berlin, he described Pertsev’s 64-month prison sentence as “unfortunate.”
Buterin believes that developing privacy software should be a legal and legitimate way to fight for privacy. However, the Dutch court ruled Pertsev guilty of money laundering through the software he created, which has broader implications for Storm, who is facing similar charges in the United States.
Crypto mixers like Tornado Cash, designed to hide transaction trails, have faced significant regulatory scrutiny due to their potential misuse by criminals. Despite this, Buterin remains optimistic and hopes for a positive outcome in Storm’s upcoming trial in the U.S. He continues to emphasize the importance of privacy for everyone, not just malicious actors.
Buterin is a strong supporter of privacy-focused cryptocurrency tools and has consistently advocated for the development of advanced solutions like Railgun and 0xbow. He believes that creating software for privacy should be a legal and legitimate way to protect privacy rights.
In addition to Buterin, the Tornado Cash legal defense has gained the attention of renowned privacy advocate Edward Snowden. The former NSA whistleblower has publicly supported the fundraiser for the Tornado Cash legal defense and encouraged those who can assist to contribute.
Snowden considers the case against Tornado Cash to be deeply illiberal and authoritarian, echoing Buterin’s sentiments that privacy is not a crime.
Since Buterin’s donation, the campaign has received additional smaller contributions in ETH, accompanied by messages expressing support for justice being served.
As of now, the Free Alexey & Roman campaign has raised a total of 559.81 ETH, equivalent to approximately $2 million.
