Vitalik Buterin Donates $242,000 ETH to the Legal Defense Fund of Tornado Cash Developers

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has drawn much applause by donating a substantial amount of assets in legal aid of the Tornado Cash developers.

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder donated a substantial amount of assets in legal aid of the Tornado Cash developers, following his memecoin sell-off.

Vitalik Buterin's Ethereum Address Receives Memecoins, Swaps Tokens for ETH

In an X post on Saturday, Wu blockchain reported that Vitalik Buterin swapped different amounts of memecoins in his wallet for about 140.6 ETH valued at $340,000. According to the blockchain data, on Feb. 25, Buterin’s Ethereum address, "vitalik.eth," received 70.71 million Neiro, 11.76 billion MOONDENG, 7.8 million DEGEN, 16.03 billion KABOSU, and 100,000 USDT donated by the CATE project.

Afterward, the renowned crypto figure performed several swaps, trading these memecoins for ETH at varying rates. As noted by Spot on Chain, a blockchain analytics platform, the total amount of ETH acquired by Buterin from these transactions was 100 ETH, which he sent to the "Free Alexey & Roman" defense campaign.

This contribution, valued at $242,000, is intended to aid the legal battles faced by Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. Notably, Buterin had previously donated 30 ETH to the same cause in May, which was worth $112,000 at the time.

Pertsev and Storm are among the three founders of Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer platform that has been accused by national authorities of being a tool for illicit activities. The US Department of Justice alleges that Tornado Cash has been used to launder over $1 billion in cryptocurrency since its launch in 2019.

Currently, both developers are engaged in legal disputes, with Pertsev serving a five-year sentence in the Netherlands and Storm awaiting trial in the US following his arrest in August 2023. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the third co-founder, Roman Semenov, remain unknown.

It is unclear whether Buterin's profits from his memecoin sales were directly allocated to this defense campaign. However, the Ethereum co-founder is known for offloading memecoins to contribute to charitable causes.

For instance, in August, Buterin sold his entire holdings of 17.15 billion Neiro for around 44.42 ETH, which was valued at $119,000 at the time. Following this transaction, he donated 200 ETH, worth $532,398, to an animal welfare fund selected by the Neiro development team.

Tornado Cash Developers Continue Receiving Strong Support From Crypto Community

Tornado Cash is a decentralized platform that mixes crypto assets to conceal their transaction history, making it a valuable tool for maintaining privacy. However, it has also been used by hackers and other malicious actors to launder money and hide stolen funds.

In light of these activities, national authorities arrested Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm on charges of aiding money laundering, through their roles in creating, operating, and promoting Tornado Cash.

This enforcement action has faced significant opposition from the crypto community, who argue that developers cannot dictate the individual use of a protocol and are not liable for the actions of these bad actors.

Beyond Vitalik Buterin's contributions, other prominent crypto entities have also stepped forward to support the developers' legal battles. Matter Labs donated $100,000 to the cause, and the Uniwao DAO contributed a substantial amount of $1.5 million to the legal defense fund.

For many crypto enthusiasts, these legal cases hold great importance, as an affirmative victory by the government could disenfranchise developers' participation in the crypto industry. At the time of writing, data from Juicebox shows the defense fund for Alexey Pertsev holds 56.19 ETH (around $135,230), while 327.41 ETH (about $787,967) has been pledged to Roman Storm's defense.