Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has donated 50 Ether (approximately $170,000) to support the legal defense fund of Tornado Cash developers, Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, who have faced money laundering charges from US authorities. This donation, made via the Free Pertsev and Storm Juicebox, represents about 25% of the $650,000 available through JusticeDAO for their defense ahead of Pertsev's trial. Pertsev was arrested in 2022 by Dutch authorities and sentenced to over five years in prison in May 2024, while he plans to appeal. US prosecutors later charged Storm and another developer, Roman Semenov, with similar offenses. Many in the crypto community have expressed outrage over these sanctions, which stemmed from the US Treasury's actions in 2022 against Tornado Cash, citing its use in laundering funds by various actors, including North Korean hackers. Buterin had previously contributed funds to the same cause, highlighting the growing discontent regarding regulatory actions affecting cryptocurrency mixing services.

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