Ethereum Foundation donates $1.25 million to Tornado Cash dev Alexey Pertsev’s legal defense

Convicted Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has a powerful ally coming to his aid.On Wednesday, the Ethereum Foundation said it is donating $1.25 million to Pertsev's legal defense. Last year, Pertsev was sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court for facilitating the laundering of $1.2 billion in crypto through the Tornado Cash mixer.This comes just a day after the foundation promoted its executive director, Aya Miyaguchi, to president. "Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime," the Ethereum Foundation said in its post to X announcing the donation. The post was framed as a response to Paradigm Matt Huang announcing in January his firm was donating $1.25 million to Tornado co-founder Roman Storm's legal defense.Earlier this month, Pertsev said he would be released from pretrial detention and would be working on his appeal. The Dutch court suspended his pretrial detention under the condition he submit to electronic monitoring.Storm is currently launching his own legal defense in the United States. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, along with several other crypto community members, have urged U.S. President Donald Trump to clear Storm’s charges following his executive order pardoning Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.