Tornado Cash developers receive funding from new legal defense DAO

An activist group launched a legal defense fund for accused Tornado Cache developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm on January 22.

Roman Storm approved the fundraiser. state:

“2024 is the year that will determine the rest of my life. Honestly, I’m scared. But I hope this community is passionate and interested. Please donate to my legal defense.”

DAO also announced Ameen Soleimani, who is working on various Ethereum and cryptocurrency projects. Soleimani wrote:

” … Roman and Alexey are fighting for all of us. The results of these trials will have far-reaching consequences for ETH developers and users, especially those working on privacy tools.”

This fund is organized by the following groups: Free Pertsev & Storm. The fundraiser is scheduled to run from January 22nd to February 22nd. pointed out A defendant’s legal fees can range from $90,000 to $100,000 per month. “The next few months will be critical in shaping their defense strategy,” he added.

Donations can be made through three fundraising platforms: As of 11 PM UTC on January 22, JuiceBoxDAO’s Free Pertsev & Storm fundraising page has raised 23 ETH ($53,300) through 78 donations.

Additionally, the group’s GoFundMe fundraiser raised $14,745 through cash donations. Another website, WeWantJusticeDAO.org, also appears to accept donations, but does not publicly report the amount raised.

The United States is taking action against Coinmixer.

The United States first took action against Tornado Cash in August 2022, when the Treasury Department blacklisted various on-chain cryptocurrency addresses linked to the service.

About a year later, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began filing charges against the platform’s developers. The agency indicted Storm in August 2023 for his role in the development of the coin mixer Tornado Cash, alleging conspiracy charges of money laundering, violation of sanctions, and operating an unlicensed money transfer business. The DOJ simultaneously indicted another individual, Roman Semenov.

Alexey Pertsev was arrested on similar money laundering charges in the Netherlands in August 2022. He is not currently facing charges in the United States, but has been designated by the Treasury Department for his role in Tornado Cash.

U.S. authorities allege Tornado Cash and other coin mixers are used for money laundering and by cybercrime groups, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Crypto community members strongly disputed this and claimed that CoinMixer has legitimate privacy applications for regular users.

Additionally, the DeFi Education Fund submitted a comment opposing a federal proposal to treat Coinmixer as a special money laundering issue.