Update, Feb. 26, 3:18 pm UTC: This article has been updated with comments from Judith De Boer, attorney for Alexey Pertsev.
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) donated $1.25 million to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, who is preparing to appeal his money laundering conviction in the Netherlands.
“Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime,” the EF wrote in an X post while announcing the donation on Feb. 26.
Source: Alexey Pertsev
Pertsev subsequently took to X to repost the EF’s announcement, expressing gratitude for the donation to his legal defense.
“I’m very grateful that I can now completely focus on preparing my appeal. This means the world to me,” he said.
His attorney, Judith De Boer, emphasized the broader implications of the appeal in a statement to Cointelegraph:
“This support highlights the importance of the legal ramifications of this case. It is not just about my client — it is about the rights of open-source contributors and ensuring that privacy-preserving technologies are not unfairly criminalized. This appeal creates a second chance to turn the precedent created by the court in first instance.”
Pertsev left prison custody in early February
The donation came weeks after Pertsev left prison custody in early February as part of the pretrial release.
The release marked a significant development in the ongoing legal battle over Pertsev’s role at Tornado Cash after he was arrested by Dutch authorities in August 2022.
A Russian national and resident of the Netherlands, Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering by a Dutch court in May 2024 and sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
In addition to Pertsev’s ongoing legal action in the Netherlands, global authorities, including the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022. The agency overturned the sanctions the day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president on Jan. 20.
Previous support from the community
The latest donation by the Ethereum Foundation isn’t the first time Pertsev received financial support from the Ethereum community.
In December 2024, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 50 Ether (ETH) — or roughly $170,000 at the time — to support legal aid for Pertsev and Roman Storm, another Tornado Cash developer who’s preparing for a trial in the US on April 14.
Source: Vitalik Buterin
“I would like to thank everyone, especially Vitalik Buterin and Stefan George for your incredible generosity to my defense. Your support inspires me to move forward and I’m forever grateful,” Pertsev wrote at the time.
Crypto investment firm Paradigm also announced in January a $1.25 million donation to help fund Storm’s legal defense.
Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle