Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has donated 30 ETH, around $113,000, to aid the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.

Etherscan shows Buterin contributed to the “Free Pertsev and Storm” fund on the decentralized platform Juicebox on May 30. The fund has accumulated 591 ETH, equivalent to $2.2 million.

Buterin’s support is expected, given his strong advocacy for crypto privacy tools and regular use of such platforms.

Tornado Cash developers’ legal issues

Pertsev and Storm have been entangled in legal troubles over the past year due to their work on the Tornado Cash privacy protocol.

Recently, a Dutch court sentenced Pertsev to 64 months in prison for laundering about $1.2 billion through Tornado Cash between July 2019 and August 2022. Pertsev is appealing the decision.

Storm has been detained in the US since 2023, with his trial set for September.

Buterin’s donation underscores the support these developers have within the crypto community. Last month, three blockchain advocacy groups filed amicus curiae briefs defending Storm against criminal charges in the US, bolstering his case to dismiss the charges.

US Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden have also opposed the DOJ’s efforts to classify non-custodial crypto asset software services like Tornado Cash as money-transmitting businesses, arguing that such a move would hinder innovation and undermine trust in the DOJ’s adherence to the rule of law.

Several crypto projects, including Optimism, Aave, MakerDAO, YearnFi, Alchemix, and Uniswap, are discussing potential donations to support the developers.