JusticeDAO has raised about $2.3 million in legal defense funds for Tornado Cash developers

JusticeDAO has raised 654 ETH (about $2.3 million) for Tornado Cash developers’ legal defense. JusticeDAO previously raised funds through the “Free Alexey & Roman” campaign launched by the decentralized platform Juicebox. After the arrest of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm and developer Alexey Pertsev, the crypto community united to form JusticeDAO, an advocacy group aimed at raising funds for the arrested persons’ legal defense. Previously, Tornado Cash developers were charged with suspected money laundering, sanctions violations, and unlicensed remittance business, one of whom has been convicted and imprisoned, and the U.S. Treasury Department accused Tornado Cash of being used to launder more than $7 billion, and Storm and Roman Semenov were charged with money laundering and sanctions violations. Juicebox released a public spreadsheet tracking the expenditures of the Free Alexey & Roman fund. Data shows that the fund spent $1.39 million in legal fees between December 2023 and May 2024, and expects to spend another $2.8 million in the next five months, and another $400,000 on expert research and additional legal fees, with total expenses expected to reach nearly $3.35 million in 2024. The fund includes a large donation from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who is also a privacy advocate. (Cointelegraph)