Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ETH to Alexey Pertsev, a developer of Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer that was once sanctioned by the US government.
According to Etherscan data from crypto reporter Colin Wu, Buterin Pertsev donated a total of 100 ETH twice to help him pay legal fees.
“[Vitalik] today donated 50 ETH worth about $170,000 to Juicebox: Support Alexey Pertsev. Currently, Juicebox: Support Alexey Pertsev has collected more than 184 ETH. Alexey Pertsev is a Tornado Cash developer and is looking for more funds to pay ongoing legal fees.
[Vitalik] donated another 50 ETH to Juicebox: Support Alexey Pertsev today with a total of 100 ETH, worth approximately $340,000.”
An X-page dedicated to supporting Tornado Cash developers publicly thanked Buterin for the donation.
In May 2024, Pertsev was sentenced to five years and four months in prison by a Dutch court for allegedly laundering billions of dollars in money.
The US banned the use of Tornado Cash in 2022, citing national security concerns. However, a US appeals court sided with Tornado Cash last November, effectively overturning its ban by…
