Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin has made substantial donations of ETH to Alexey Pertsev, a developer of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that was previously sanctioned by the US government.

According to Etherscan data reported by crypto reporter Colin Wu, Buterin donated a total of 100 ETH to Pertsev on two occasions to assist with his legal expenses.

“[Vitalik] donated 50 ETH, valued at approximately $170,000, to Juicebox: Support Alexey Pertsev today. Currently, Juicebox: Support Alexey Pertsev has raised over 184 ETH. Alexey Pertsev is a Tornado Cash developer and is seeking additional funds to cover ongoing legal fees.

[Vitalik] donated another 50 ETH to Juicebox: Support Alexey Pertsev today, making a total of 100 ETH, valued at about $340,000.”

A dedicated page on X platform that supports Tornado Cash developers publicly expressed gratitude to Buterin for his donation.

In May 2024, Pertsev was sentenced to five years and four months in prison by a Dutch court for allegedly laundering billions of dollars.

In 2022, the US imposed a ban on the use of Tornado Cash, citing national security concerns. However, in November of the previous year, a US appeals court ruled in favor of Tornado Cash, effectively overturning the ban by declaring that the actions taken by the Treasury Department against it were unlawful.

The judge in the case determined that smart contracts do not technically qualify as “property,” and therefore, the ban imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which authorizes the President to block any property in which a foreign country or its nationals have an interest, exceeded the limits of its authority.

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