Vitalik Buterin contributed 50 Ether, worth about $170,000 in December 2024, and Paradigm donated $1.25 million in January 2025 to aid Tornado Cash developers facing legal charges

Quotes that support claims

“I would like to thank everyone, especially Vitalik Buterin and Stefan George for your incredible generosity to my defense. Your support inspires me to move forward and I’m forever grateful,” Pertsev wrote at the time.

Last December, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin contributed 50 ETH, worth approximately $170,000, to a legal defense fund for Storm and Pertsev through the Juicebox project Free Pertsev and Storm.