The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has pledged $1.25 million to support Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev as he prepares to appeal his money laundering conviction in the Netherlands.
Foundation Stands by Privacy Rights
Announcing the donation on social media platform X on 26 February, the EF reaffirmed its stance on digital privacy and open-source development.
“Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime,” the foundation stated in its post.
Pertsev later reposted the announcement, expressing his gratitude for the financial support.
“I’m very grateful that I can now completely focus on preparing my appeal. This means the world to me,” he wrote.
Pertsev’s Legal Battle
The donation follows Pertsev’s release from custody in early February as part of a pretrial arrangement. He had been arrested by Dutch authorities in August 2022 in connection with Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service.
A Russian national and resident of the Netherlands, Pertsev was convicted of money laundering by a Dutch court in May 2024 and sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
In addition to the legal proceedings in the Netherlands, Tornado Cash has faced scrutiny from global regulators. The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the platform in August 2022. However, the sanctions were overturned on 21 January, the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.
Ongoing Support from the Crypto Community
The Ethereum Foundation’s latest donation is not the first instance of financial support for Pertsev from the Ethereum community.
In December 2024, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin contributed 50 Ether (ETH), worth approximately $170,000 at the time, to assist the legal defences of both Pertsev and Roman Storm, another Tornado Cash developer. Storm is scheduled to stand trial in the United States on 14 April.
“I would like to thank everyone, especially Vitalik Buterin and Stefan George, for your incredible generosity to my defence. Your support inspires me to move forward, and I’m forever grateful,” Pertsev said following the donation.
Crypto investment firm Paradigm also pledged $1.25 million in January to support Storm’s legal costs.
With mounting legal challenges and increasing scrutiny on privacy-focused crypto services, the Ethereum Foundation’s support signals a strong stance in favour of open-source development and financial privacy.
