Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 30 ETH, equivalent to approximately $113,000, as a show of support for the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. The transparent transaction can be verified through the Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan, revealing the transfer from Buterin's wallet to a Juicebox address linked to the 'Free Alexey & Roman' legal defense fund.

Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixing service, allows users to increase the confidentiality of their transactions by concealing the movement of their funds. Despite its privacy-enhancing features, Tornado Cash has come under regulatory scrutiny due to concerns about its potential misuse for illicit purposes.

In a recent development, Dutch courts sentenced Alexey Pertsev to 64 months in prison for his involvement in processing $1.2 billion through the Tornado Cash mixer between July 2019 and August 2022, convicting him of aiding money laundering activities. Pertsev has contested the verdict by filing an appeal with the s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal in the Netherlands.