Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has made a significant contribution to the legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. A wallet associated with Buterin transferred 30 Ether, worth $113,000, to Juicebox, an open-source crypto crowdfunding platform. The funds will be used to support Pertsev and Storm in their court battle to prove their innocence. So far, the fund has raised approximately 591 Ether and continues to grow.
The involvement of Buterin in this cause is not surprising, as he has been a vocal advocate for crypto privacy and the development of tools that allow users to manage their assets privately. He has published numerous papers and suggestions on how to enhance privacy on Ethereum. Tornado Cash, the tool at the center of this legal battle, enables users to send crypto transactions anonymously. While its primary focus is privacy, criminals have been known to exploit the tool for illicit purposes.
The attention drawn to Tornado Cash by law enforcement agencies resulted in the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioning its use in August 2022. The founders of Tornado Cash were subsequently arrested and charged with violating Anti-Money Laundering rules. Pertsev was sentenced to five years on money laundering charges by a Dutch court.
This crackdown on crypto privacy has had a significant impact on the industry, particularly on privacy-focused coins like Monero, which have been delisted from major exchanges worldwide. Privacy tools have also faced criticism from regulators. However, the crypto community strongly believes that arresting software developers for writing code and treating them as equivalent to terrorists is unjustified, regardless of differing opinions on privacy.
The crypto community has a history of advocating for human rights, as seen in its efforts to secure the release of Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road marketplace. Ulbricht is currently serving two consecutive life sentences without parole for non-violent crimes. The community’s activism on this issue even caught the attention of former President Donald Trump, who pledged to pardon Ulbricht if elected.
In other news, there is a documentary available on Amazon Prime that explores the collapse of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange. The documentary, priced at $2,500, received some assistance from the filmmaker’s mother.