Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev Released from Prison on Supervised Release

In Brief:

Alexey Pertsev, convicted of money laundering for developing Tornado Cash, is being released under electronic monitoring.

He will continue appealing his 64-month sentence, following a U.S. court ruling questioning sanctions against Tornado Cash.

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After spending over two years in detention, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev will be released from prison on supervised release this Friday. The Dutch court granted his request for electronic monitoring, allowing him to prepare for his appeal in more favorable conditions.Pertsev was convicted in May 2024 and sentenced to 64 months in prison after Dutch prosecutors argued that Tornado Cash facilitated over $1 billion in illicit transactions, including the 2022 Ronin hack tied to North Korean hackers.

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Privacy advocates, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have criticized the case, arguing that developers should not be held responsible for open-source code misuse.His appeal follows a U.S. federal court ruling in November, which determined that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts could not be classified as “property” under U.S. sanctions laws. The outcome of Pertsev’s case could have major implications for crypto regulation and developer liability worldwide.