Ethereum Basis commits $1.25 million to assist Twister Money developer’s authorized protection

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The Ethereum Basis(EF) introduced as we speak a $1.25 million donation to assist the authorized protection of Alexey Pertsev, stating that “Privateness is regular, and writing code shouldn’t be a criminal offense.”

The EF is donating $1.25M to the authorized protection of Alexey Pertsev.

Privateness is regular, and writing code shouldn’t be a criminal offense.

You may contribute to @alex_pertsev‘s protection right here: https://t.co/shWFNoDJ9g https://t.co/ITvEiRkAGt

— Ethereum Basis (@ethereumfndn) February 26, 2025

Pertsev is engaged on interesting his conviction and 64-month jail sentence for cash laundering, which was handed down in Could 2024. He was conditionally launched from pretrial detention earlier this month, and is presently positioned below digital monitoring.

The Basis’s transfer follows Paradigm’s $1.25 million donation to help Roman Storm, Twister Money’s co-founder, in his authorized protection in opposition to US prosecution final month.

The donation is available in response to considerations concerning the prosecution’s case, which Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang argues “threatens to carry software program builders criminally answerable for the dangerous acts of third events.”

Final December, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin contributed 50 ETH, price roughly $170,000, to a authorized protection fund for Storm and Pertsev by the Juicebox mission Free Pertsev and Storm.

Storm indicated the contribution represented about 25% of the $650,000 accessible by JusticeDAO forward of his trial.

Thanks @VitalikButerin for serving to us finish the 12 months on observe, with a 50 ETH donation to each Roman and Alexey’s authorized help.

ZK is the longer term. https://t.co/WIY8B6v4qa pic.twitter.com/sM16LhnUc7

— Free Pertsev & Storm (@FreeAlexeyRoman) December 31, 2024

Pertsev was arrested by Dutch authorities in 2022 for his involvement within the crypto mixing service. In Could 2024, he was discovered responsible of cash laundering and acquired a jail sentence exceeding 5 years.

US prosecutors later charged Storm and Roman Semenov with cash laundering, sanctions violations and fraud associated to their roles with Twister Money. Storm was granted bail earlier than his trial, scheduled for April 14, whereas Semenov stays at giant.

The costs adopted the US Treasury’s Workplace of International Belongings Management including the mixer to its Specifically Designated Nationals listing in August 2022. US officers claimed dangerous actors, together with North Korean hackers, had used Twister Money to launder over $7 billion price of crypto belongings since 2019.

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