Ethereum Foundation and Keyring launch legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers
A legal defense bolstered by the Ethereum Foundation and the Keyring network is raising money for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev as part of a new joint initiative to "pioneer open-source legal defense funding."
The initiative, started on Thursday, has raised over $22,000 as of Friday morning, according to its site. Protocol fees collected from the first two months from Keyring's ZkVerified permissioned vaults will go toward the legal defense funds, according to a statement.
"This model ensures that the first users of a vault directly support the legal protection of privacy-focused developers," the Ethereum Foundation said in the statement. "By linking the growth of new financial tools with the protection of the people who build them, Keyring demonstrates that communities can strengthen resilience while driving innovation forward."
Storm was found guilty over the summer on a money transmitting charge, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on money laundering and sanctions charges. A year earlier, Pertsev was sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court for facilitating $1.2 billion in money laundering through the crypto mixer between July 2019 and August 2022. Both are fighting for appeals.
Multiple crypto advocates have donated funds to legal defenses for both Storm and Pertsev. The Solana Policy Institute donated $500,000 in August and the Ethereum Foundation earlier pledged $500,000 for Storm's legal defense.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., prosecutors' stance on software developers has since shifted under the Trump administration. Last week, Matthew J Galeotti, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said that "writing code" is not a crime, and some crypto advocates hope that will be put into action.
Pertsev posted on X on Friday that the new initiative between Keyring and the Ethereum Foundation is a significant development.
"We still have a long way to go in this appeal as the Court has decided that an additional investigation has to be done," Pertsev said. "We keep working towards justice and your help is invaluable to #CodeWithoutFear."
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.