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Developer of privacy protocol Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, is actively looking to raise funds in order to continue the legal struggle in the Netherlands. The convicted developer, sentenced to five years in prison, looks forward to raising $750,000 to $1 million for the needed legal lifeline.
On August 10, Pertsev publicly called for funds with a video on the social media platform X. It is a call for people to contribute Ether to the decentralized fundraiser Juicebox. According to his campaign team, Pertsev strongly fought for his freedom and broader principles of privacy and open source development.
Pertsev’s Legal Troubles
On May 14, the Netherlands court found the Tornado Cash engineer Pertsev guilty. According to Pertsev, the entire legal process was “expensive” and difficult. Now, he is asking anyone for donations so that he can raise enough money to launch an appeal.
Early reactions from the crypto community have been positive. Already, a “Defend Alexey” fundraiser on Juicebox has raised 15.35 Ethereum, more than $40,000. Another initiative by privacy researcher Ameen Soleimani, a limited edition NFT collection, also opened calling for support to Pertsev’s legal defense.
1/ Defend Alexey Pertsev
It has been exactly 2 years since @alex_pertsev‘s arrest and he has run out of funds to defend our right to privacy and to publish code. It’s time to take a stand with Alexey and fight for what’s right. https://t.co/McVJHfXNXW
— Free Pertsev & Storm (@FreeAlexeyRoman) August 10, 2024
Tornado Cash: Community Support
These are fundraising efforts in addition to previous support from the crypto community. Notably, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had donated over $100,000 in support for Pertsev and his colleague Roman Storm, who is currently held in the US.
The case of Pertsev has attracted wide attention from the blockchain community and privacy activists who fear that if others misused the code, the impacts would go beyond this case to developers at large. According to Buchner of Block, it is wrong for a developer to be held both criminally and civilly liable simply because their open-source software was used for certain misdeeds.
Stricter Regulatory Grip
Meanwhile, global regulators have been clamping down on privacy protocols over the past year, citing claims that terrorist organizations and rogue states such as North Korea make use of these technologies in the shrouding of illicit digital assets.
As a result, the US government has pressed charges against several crypto-privacy service providers, including the co-founders of Samourai Wallet, for alleged violation of local laws.
The case of Pertsev has therefore been a source of concern about the chilling effect on open-source development and the need to protect privacy. A ruling in his appeal might set an important precedent for the future of privacy-preserving technologies within the crypto space.
The fact that the crypto community came out in huge support for Pertsev’s legal defense testifies to strong beliefs in the principles of privacy and the protection of developers from liability for the misuse of their code. All eyes will be on the Netherlands court as the legal battle between the two continues, awaiting their ruling on this highly important case.
Featured image from Rave Mobile Safety, chart from TradingView
