Tornado Cash Co-Founder Released From Prison, Plans to Focus on Appeal
After Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Roads, the crypto community called for the release of Tornado Cash co-founder, which attracted great attention. The momentum has led to the release of Alex Pertsev, a developer of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, a pretrial detention in the Netherlands. Facing money laundering charges, Pertsev has been released under electronic surveillance, allowing him to prepare for an appeal.
Tear rally as regulator releases tornado co-founder
Alex Pertsev, co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, announced that a Dutch court has put his pretrial detention and allowed him to turn to electronic surveillance when preparing for an appeal.
“Freedom is priceless, but my freedom costs a lot of money. My house arrest is only possible due to the lawyer’s work, and my battle is not over yet,” Alex said. I still need your help in order to get the last confidence victory.”
The announcement caused the price of the token (Torn) of Tornado Cash, which jumped nearly 20% before settling for $13.72.
Dutch authorities arrested Alex Pertsev in August 2022 after the U.S. sanctions on the tornado mixer and its developers. Pertsev faces allegations of promoting money laundering and negligence to prevent illegal financial activities on the platform.
In May 2024, a Dutch court sentenced Pertsev to five years in prison and found that his involvement in tornado cash helped with money laundering. The court acknowledged tornado cash could be a neutral tool, but said it was the responsibility of developers to prevent its abuse.
After his arrest, Russian nationals began to actively appeal his conviction and demand bail. Despite several attempts, his bail request was denied. His defense lawyer believes that he just created open source software and should not be criminalized because of how others choose to use it.
The debate on developer responsibility continues
On November 26, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals directed the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to remove addresses related to tornado cash from its list of blocked individuals and entities.
The decision is seen as a major victory for Persev and the Roman storm, another developer of tornado cash, who was arrested in August 2023 and is awaiting trial.
Please read also: Ethereum community supports developers and co-founder of Tornado Cash, calling for Trump’s assistance
The court noted that sanctions on the agreement would not prevent malicious actors from using it because smart contracts operate independently and cannot be owned, controlled or changed. The ruling also recommends updating legislation to better regulate the use of crypto-mixed mixtures.
Advocates believe that these services are primarily designed to protect user privacy. However, in many cases, criminals have used these services to launder money, which has attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies around the world.
