Tornado Cash developer pleads guilty to laundering $1.2 billion in illicit funds

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been found guilty of laundering $1.2 billion in illicit funds through the sanctioned crypto mixer.

Pertsev, a 31-year-old Russian living in the Netherlands, was sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court. Their lawyers can appeal the decision within 14 days.

Condemnation of Tornado Cash developer

The developer was initially jailed in the Netherlands in August 2022 when Tornado Cash was banned by the US government. The US Treasury claimed that Tornado Cash was a critical tool for the notorious North Korean hacking group Lazarus. During Pertsev’s trial in March, prosecutors argued that he did not do enough to prevent criminals from using Tornado Cash.

However, the defense argued that prosecutors failed to consider that Tornado Cash operates on automated and open-source smart contracts. Pertsev claimed that it is unfair to blame him for the actions of Tornado Cash users, who are intentionally anonymous and independent.

A similar sentiment was echoed by several industry commentators. Raphaël Bloch, co-founder of ‘The Big Whale’, also highlighted the concern in his recent tweet in which he stated that Pertsev’s decision to plead guilty to money laundering is dangerous, noting that he only developed an open source tool.

“Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering by a Dutch court. This decision is very dangerous because Pertsev only developed an open source tool. Convicting him is like convicting a knife maker or automobiles whose users would have behaved in an incorrect manner”.

Additionally, Tornado Cash is a non-custodial crypto mixing protocol, meaning that it never holds or controls the funds that are transferred through the protocol.

“Sad day for privacy, open source”

The outcome of this test could set a precedent for future tests with other Tornado Cash developers. Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, two other developers of the cryptographic mixer, are also accused of money laundering and violating sanctions in the US.

Meanwhile, Storm’s trial is scheduled for September, but Semenov has not yet been arrested. Former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had previously publicly endorsed Storm’s request for support in his legal defense.

Blockfence’s head of security research, Pablo Sabbatella, he called it’s a “sad day for privacy, crypto, and open source.”

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