Ethereum Foundation and Keyring Launch Legal Defense Fund for Tornado Cash Developers
A new legal defense initiative, supported by the Ethereum Foundation and the Keyring network, is raising funds for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. The effort aims to “pioneer open-source legal defense funding,” ensuring privacy-focused developers receive fair legal representation.
Launched on Thursday, the initiative had already raised over $22,000 by Friday morning, according to the project’s website. As part of the campaign, protocol fees collected during the first two months from Keyring’s ZkVerified permissioned vaults will be directed to the legal defense fund.
“This model ensures that the first users of a vault directly support the legal protection of privacy-focused developers,” the Ethereum Foundation stated. “By linking the growth of new financial tools with the protection of the people who build them, Keyring demonstrates how communities can strengthen resilience while driving innovation forward.”
Tornado Cash Developers Continue Legal Battle with Growing Industry Support
Roman Storm was found guilty earlier this summer on a money transmitting charge, though the jury could not reach a verdict on the money laundering and sanctions allegations. Meanwhile, Alexey Pertsev had been sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court a year earlier, accused of facilitating $1.2 billion in money laundering through the Tornado Cash crypto mixer between July 2019 and August 2022. Both developers are currently pursuing appeals against their respective rulings.
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The crypto community has rallied behind them, with several organizations contributing to their legal defense funds. The Solana Policy Institute donated $500,000 in August, while the Ethereum Foundation had previously pledged another $500,000 to support Storm’s defense.
Shifting Legal Views and Developer Reactions
Meanwhile, in the United States, the Justice Department’s stance on software developers has begun to shift under the Trump administration. Matthew J. Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department’s Criminal Division, stated last week that “writing code is not a crime,” a remark that has given crypto advocates hope for a more balanced approach toward developers working on open-source technologies.
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