A wallet associated with Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, transferred 30 Ether, valued at $113,000, to Juicebox, an open-source crypto crowdfunding platform. The funds were allocated for legal assistance to support Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.
At the time of this publication, the fund had raised about 591 Ether ETHUSD and will support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers in their court battle to prove their innocence.
Law enforcement crackdown on privacy tools
Crypto veterans, including Buterin, have long advocated for crypto privacy and tools that help users manage their assets privately. Buterin himself has published numerous papers and suggestions on how to enhance privacy on Ethereum and thus, his support for the cause doesn’t come as a surprise.
Tornado Cash is a crypto privacy tool that allows users to send crypto transactions anonymously. Although focused on privacy, criminals often use the tool to proceed with hacked or stolen funds.
The nature of the tool attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies, leading the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to sanction its use in August 2022.
Tornado Cash founders were arrested and charged with violating the Anti-Money Laundering rules. A Dutch court subsequently sentenced Alexey Pertsev to five years on money laundering charges.
As law enforcement agencies seek software developers, experts have warned that this could have a far-reaching impact on the crypto industry.
