- Ethereum Foundation and Keyring join forces to defend Tornado Cash developers.
- Community funding aims to protect privacy-focused innovators facing legal challenges.
- U.S. prosecutors signal shifting stance on open-source software accountability issues.
A new initiative led by the Ethereum Foundation and the Keyring network is gathering momentum to support Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev in their legal battles. The joint effort, launched Thursday, has already raised over $22,000 by Friday morning according to its official platform.
Funds from Keyring’s ZkVerified permissioned vaults will also be directed to the defense teams during the first two months of operations.
According to the Ethereum Foundation, this approach links innovation to responsibility by ensuring that users of the new vaults directly contribute to protecting privacy-oriented developers.
The statement emphasized that the project demonstrates how decentralized communities can sustain both resilience and innovation through collaboration and purpose-driven funding.
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Community-Driven Push for Privacy Developers’ Legal Defense
Storm, a U.S.-based developer, was found guilty earlier this year on a money transmitting charge, though jurors could not reach a verdict on money laundering and sanctions-related accusations.
Meanwhile, Pertsev, his Netherlands-based co-developer, was sentenced to 64 months in prison in 2024 for enabling over $1.2 billion in laundering activity via Tornado Cash between 2019 and 2022. Both men are now pursuing appeals to challenge the rulings.
Crypto organizations and advocates have consistently rallied behind the two developers. In August, the Solana Policy Institute donated $500,000 toward their legal fund, while the Ethereum Foundation also pledged another $500,000 to support Storm’s case. This latest fundraising collaboration has added a new structure to how the Web3 community handles legal defense for open-source contributors.
Pertsev expressed gratitude for the ongoing support, noting on X that the initiative represents a significant milestone in their appeal process. He added that additional investigations were ordered by the court, extending the legal timeline but reinforcing their determination to seek justice.
Changing U.S. Outlook on Developer Accountability
The broader crypto industry is observing changes in the U.S. government’s approach to open-source development. Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew J. Galeotti recently stated that writing code alone should not be treated as a criminal act.
His comment has been seen by crypto advocates as a promising sign that developers’ rights may soon receive stronger legal protections.
As this initiative grows, it underscores the collective resolve of blockchain communities to defend privacy-driven innovation and support the individuals shaping the technology’s future.
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