Why Is Tornado Cash Alexey Pertsev Still In Jail?
Alexey Pertsev, the creator of Tornado Cash, will remain incarcerated in the Netherlands till at least February.
The protocol Pertsev created is alleged to have made money laundering easier.
A decentralized crypto mixer is Tornado Cash. There is no power in it for Pertsev.
Alexey Pertsev, the creator of Tornado Cash, has been sentenced to remain behind bars at least until the February hearing’s subsequent session. This follows a Dutch court’s finding that he poses a flight risk.
Russian native Pertsev, who resides in the Netherlands, has been in custody since August due to the U.S. Treasury Department’s restriction on the Tornado Cash protocol. It is a tool for money laundering and assists North Korean hackers, according to American investigators.
Because he created the Tornado Cash code, Pertsev is charged with aiding in money laundering. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, the protocol is an open-source, decentralised crypto mixer. It combines distinguishable money with others to mask the provenance of the coins. Pertsev has no control over the protocol because it is decentralised and permissionless.
Is Sam Bankman-Fried link to this case?
In sharp contrast to other prospective bad actors who have caused chaos in the cryptocurrency markets this year, Pertsev’s scenario is unique. The well-known American whistleblower Edward Snowden linked Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with Pertsev’s arrest. Bankman-Fried may have committed many crimes, but Snowden claimed that he was still free because of his political ties.
“While “regulators” were secretly hanging out with the robbers who just robbed 5 million people, the White House punishes and imprisons children for the “crime” of developing privacy technologies to protect you. The distinction? He claimed in a tweet from two weeks ago that the thieves were significant political donors. FTX, a company owned by Bankman-Fried, is suspected of misusing up to $10 billion in client cash and other possibly illegal business practices. He is currently being watched over by local authorities while in the Bahamas.
It’s important to note that no one has yet been arrested for the largest collapses, or at the very least questionable business operations, in this year’s crypto bear market. These include Do Kwon of Terra Luna, Su Zhu and Kyle Davies of the collapsed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, and Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of the bankrupt lender Celsius.
On the other hand
When Pertsev is let out of prison is unknown.
Conclusion: The cryptocurrency industry pays close attention to Alexey Pertsev’s position. If he is proven guilty, this might set a precedent for other cryptocurrency creators to be detained on comparable charges.
