The Ethereum Foundation dedicates $1.25 million to help pay for legal defense services for Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev. Pertsev maintains his legal defense against money laundering charges because of his arrest in 2022.
Alexey Pertsev worked on Tornado Cash until he went into pretrial detention on August 2022. The court ordered his release on February 7, 2025 and granted him house arrest as he builds his appeal against the case. On February 6 the court in the Netherlands released Alexey Pertsev from prison after completing his pretrial detention period.
The EF is donating $1.25M to the legal defense of Alexey Pertsev.
Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.
You can contribute to @alex_pertsev‘s defense here: https://t.co/shWFNoDJ9g https://t.co/ITvEiRkAGt
— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) February 26, 2025
Pertsev received his money laundering conviction from the s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal during his May 2024 sentencing and served 64 months in prison. The court made a debated decision since Pertsev could not control how Tornado Cash handled funds or which part of the protocol.
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Tornado Cash, Sparking Legal Debate
The Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Ethereum blockchain-based Tornado Cash crypto mixing service in 2022. Since its 2019 launch Tornado Cash served as a platform to launder $7 billion of criminal money until US OFAC detected $455 million stolen by North Korean hackers.
Several people doubt whether these sanctions are allowed by law. The Treasury lost its power in a U.S. court ruling to block certain Tornado Cash smart contracts because this experience shows Windows Government overreach against decentralized tech.
People in the cryptocurrency community heavily criticize Pertsev’s legal processing. At a Berlin conference in 2024 Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed his negative attitude toward the Alexey issue. Many people wrongly think that creating software offers valid legal protection when battling for personal privacy.
Ethereum Foundation Supports Developers Facing Legal Challenges
The Ethereum Foundation provides financial backing as a way to stand with developers who create blockchain technology from open-source resources and are targeted by legal actions. Multiple developers struggle with legal problems in addition to Pertsev.
The US authorities examine Roman Storm regarding his responsibilities as Tornado Cash co-founder. Storm attempted to dismiss his money laundering case at the Manhattan court but failed to achieve his goal.
He still battles against these claims despite his request being rejected. Paradigm and other company contributors now pledge money to help Storm defend himself.
Paradigm will be donating $1.25M to help fund Roman Storm’s legal defense
The prosecution’s case threatens to hold software developers criminally liable for the bad acts of third parties, which would have a chilling effect in crypto and beyond
We must stand with @rstormsf https://t.co/OvPHNYeGFD
— Matt Huang (@matthuang) January 28, 2025
Through Tornado Cash users can shield their transaction records by putting Ethereum or ERC-20 tokens into a smart contract and withdrawing them to various addresses.
Although this system provides users with money privacy it serves as a tool for criminals to operate undetected. The system participated in both the Infini hack and the Phemex exchange theft which occurred in January.
The Ethereum Foundation’s donation demonstrates the ongoing dispute about private transactions and develops the central question of how developers should handle these matters in cryptocurrency.
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