The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced that it has donated $1.25 million to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev. Pertsev is preparing to appeal his money laundering conviction in the Netherlands.
It came after investment firm Paradigm’s co-founder, Matt Huang announced a $1.25 million donation in support of Pertsev’s Tornado Cash counterpart, Roman Storm.
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
This Donation To Pertsev Is The First Big Act Of New Ethereum Foundation Head, Aya Miyaguchi
Just yesterday, Vitalik Buterin announced that Aya Miyaguchi would be the new head of the Ethereum Foundation. Less than 24 hours, Miyaguchi made her first move by donating $1.25 million to Alexey Pertsev of Tornado Cash fame.
“Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime” the Ethereum Foundation wrote in an X post while announcing the donation. Pertsev quickly took to X to repost the EF’s announcement, expressing gratitude for the donation to his legal defense of the case in the Netherlands.
“Great news! Thank you @ethereumfndn for making a huge donation to my legal defense for the case in the Netherlands. I’m very grateful that I can now completely focus on preparing my appeal. This means the world to me. Let’s do this together!” the post from Pertsev read.
A Russian national and resident of the Netherlands, Alexey Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering by a Dutch court in May 2024. He was subsequently sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
RELATED: Who is Aya Miyaguchi? New Ethereum Foundation Head – Can She Save Ethereum Price?
EF Donation To Pertsev Came On The Heels Of Paradigm’s $1.25m Donation To Tornado Cash Co-Founder Roman Storm
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
The X post from the Ethereum Foundation regarding the donation to Pertsev was a repost of a Matt Huang post. Matt Huang is a founder of investment firm Paradigm and on January 28, 2025, he wrote;
“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”
Like Alexey Pertsev, Storm is being prosecuted for his involvement in the Tornado Cash project. The key difference being that Storm is being tried in the USA as opposed to the Netherlands.
He has continuously pleaded his innocence. Storm claims that he is being “prosecuted for writing open-source code that enables private crypto transactions in a completely non-custodial manner.”
Storm’s trial is set to begin on April 14, 2025.
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The Ethereum Foundation Donated $1.25m To Help Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev Fight His Legal Battle
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