Alex Pertsev is the co-founder and CEO of Tornado Cash. He announced that an Dutch court had suspended his pretrial custody, which allowed him to switch to electronic monitoring as he prepared for an appeal.
Pertsev posted the following on a post dated February 6, X:
“Dear Friends, on Friday 7 February at 10 am I will be free! It is not real freedom, but it is better than prison… Thank you to everyone who supported me and who made this possible!”
The news sparked a price increase in Tornado Cash’s token TORN, which soared nearly 40% before retreating to $12.88 as of press time.
Pertsev, a Russian national who had been living in the Netherlands since August 20, 2022 was detained by Dutch authorities after US officials sanctioned Tornado Mixer. Pertsev is accused of facilitating money-laundering and neglect for not taking sufficient measures to stop illicit financial activity.
Pertsev will serve five years of prison after a Dutch Court sentenced him to it in 2024. The court ruled that Pertsev’s role with Tornado Cash was responsible for the laundering criminal funds. Tornado Cash, the court claimed, was neutral and developers had to ensure it wasn’t misused.
Pertsev, following the ruling of the court, has insisted that privacy software should not be considered money laundering. He also believes that developers who use open-source should not have to answer for their actions.
Court wins
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held its November 26th hearing. ordered Tornado Cash’s addresses will be removed from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of US Treasury.
Pertsev was hailed as having won the case, along with Roman Storm – another Tornado Cash developer detained in August of 2023.
The Fifth Circuit Court underscored that sanctioning smart contracts does not prevent bad actors from utilizing them, since they are autonomous, can’t be controlled or altered and don’t belong to anyone. Additionally, the ruling held a court suggestion to update the current legislation to regulate crypto-mixers’ use.
The court ruled that until the necessary changes have been made, Tornado Cash and other applications should be able to operate independently.
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