Tornado Cash developers have been fighting legal battles in the US and in the Netherlands. One of them, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted for laundering $1.2 billion in crypto via the mixer in the period between July 9, 2019, and Aug. 10, 2022. At the time of the ruling, the judges were of the notion that the mixer was a tool “intended for criminals.”
Roman Storm, the other developer, is facing similar money laundering charges in the US.
Via a recent update on X, Pertsev unveiled that he has expanded his legal team. He added,
“There is no precedent for this case. Its outcome is crucial for the blockchain industry. Even more broadly... developers can be held responsible for their invention if misused by third parties - Where is that line you cannot cross?”
He and his legal team are “eager to disprove the verdict and provide clarity to this issue. The developer emphasized that the outcome will be of “huge importance” for the future of the crypto and blockchain industry.
To continue his legal battle, fight for privacy rights, and the freedom to publish code, the developer has sought additional funding.
A support account on X brought to light that Pertsev has exhausted his funds. It added,
“He is in urgent need of an additional $750k-1M USD to cover ongoing legal fees.”
An advocacy group called JusticeDAO was created a few months back to cover funds for the developers’ legal fees. Towards the end of May, the fundraiser “Free Alexey & Roman” on Juicebox had amassed more than $2.19 million.
Furthermore, around 70 Ether was also raised via the JusticeDAO page.
Juicebox maintains an open spreadsheet that chalks out the expenses of the "Free Alexey & Roman” fund. According to that, around $1.39 million has been shelled out on legal fees between December 2023 and May 2024.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also donated 30 ETH in Q2. At the time, it was worth roughly around $111k.
Alongside Buterin, several others from the community have been donating via Juicebox.
As highlighted in a recent article, they have also been leaving behind message notes like: “code = free speech,” defend freedom,” “open source is not a crime,” “code is not guilty, the right should be upheld,” “crypto is freedom,” “Tornado Cash is not a terrorist weapon, it’s a privacy tool,” and “freedom of privacy should be protected both on-chain and off-chain.”
Some donors have also gone to the extent of exclaiming “I will not stand by the presence of evil.”
