- Vitalik Buterin donates 30 ETH to support Tornado Cash developers’ legal defense.
- The Dutch court rules Tornado Cash is primarily used for criminal activities.
Co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin gave 30 ETH, or around $113,000, to the Juicebox campaign “Free Alexey & Roman” at 13:58 UTC+8 today, according to crypto journalist Collin Wu.
Fundraising for Tornado Cash creators Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm’s legal defense is the main goal of this campaign. The fund has so far amassed about 559.81 ETH, indicating that the community is clearly in favor of it.
Just In: Ethereum co-founder vitalik.eth donated 30 ETH, worth about $113,000, to Juicebox: Free Alexey & Roman at 13:58 UTC+8 today. The fund has raised about 559.81 ETH and will support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 30, 2024
Legal Challenges for Tornado Cash DevelopersÂ
Previously, ETHNews reported on a significant Tornado Cash ruling by a Dutch court. The court came to the conclusion that Tornado Cash was mostly utilized for illicit purposes.
As per the decision, one of the engineers, Alexey Pertsev, ought to have kept a tight eye on how the platform was being used in order to stop such things.
With this ruling, Pertsev and Roman Storm, his co-developer, are in a difficult legal position that will require significant legal defense work.
Community Support and the Importance of Legal Defense
Support from Vitalik Buterin and the larger Ethereum community emphasizes how crucial legal protection is to developers working on privacy-focused projects like Tornado Cash.
The matter has ignited a more general discussion on the duties of developers and the legal ramifications of developing technology that improves privacy.
Implications for the Crypto Community
The case’s outcome might have a big impact on the entire crypto ecosystem. It begs important concerns regarding the proper ratio of privacy to regulatory compliance.
The reaction of the community—which included large contributions to the legal fund—shows how much they want to preserve the anonymity and decentralization that are fundamental to blockchain technology.
Meanwhile, CoinMarketCap data shows that the current price of ETH is about $3,740.14. This is a drop of 2.70% for the last 24 hours. The last 7 days have also seen ETH exhibit a bearish trend, down 1.18%.