- In August 2022, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands after the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned his creation on suspicion that it was used by North Korean hackers.
- On Wednesday, February 15, a new hearing was held in which the request for parole was denied.
- youornado Cash is a protocol that allows users to hide the origin or destination of their cryptocurrencies and tokens on the Ethereum network.
If you ask an audience that is not very familiar with the crypto space, they will most likely answer that cryptocurrency transactions are anonymous. Although this is not really true: rather they are pseudonymous. It may not be known who sends and who receives, but these actions are recorded on the blockchain, so they are traceable.
In this way, on more than one occasion, the authorities have been able to find the funds stolen by hackers. Even today, there are wallets identified for having illegal money and they are constantly monitored. Although there are certain tools that do allow full anonymity. As the case of Tornado Cash.
Tornado Cash is a protocol that allows users to hide the origin or destination of their cryptocurrencies and tokens on the Ethereum network. In this way, all traceability is lost, and it is fair that this situation alerted international organizations, which have always linked cryptocurrencies to the illegal market. This tool did nothing more than encourage their suspicions, even though it has not been proven that its participants are criminals.
Alexey Pertsev is arrested
In August 2022, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands. This happened after the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury sanction its creation. The reason? The suspicion that it was used by North Korean hackers.
This Wednesday, February 15, a new hearing was held facing charges of “money laundering” and a panel of Dutch judges from the East Brabant Court did not give rise to the request for parole. As reported by CoinDesk, the jury determined that the Russian could flee the country or even hide evidence. At the end of April there could be new news in this regard.
Pertsev denied any accusation and is working to get out of prison. Dutch prosecutor Martine Boerlage stressed that Tornado Cash was running an illicit business and that everyone knew it. The authority opened the following comparison: she stressed that they worked as if they were a bank that “accepts lots of suspicious money without asking.”
The victim’s lawyer, Keith Cheng, agreed despite not having fulfilled the task:
“YouWe had the opportunity to explain what the basis of Tornado Cash is and why it is not money laundering. Lack of knowledge is what keeps you here” and I add “Of course I’m disappointed. He will fight until the end to show what is the importance of decentralized options, software and open source code.”.
Monero, the great coin that takes care of privacy
The authorities associate Tornado Cash with illegal cryptocurrency trading, although it is not the only protocol accused. Monero (XMR) is also seen as the asset of criminals for its power to be untraceable.
As explained from the site getmonero.org,
“Monero is the only cryptocurrency where every user is anonymous by default. The sender, receiver and amount of each transaction are hidden using three important technologies: @Secret-Addresses, @Ring-Signatures and RingCT”, they highlighted.
Pertsev is widely supported by the crypto community as well as Edward Snowden. However, for the moment, the acts have not been successful and the detainee will have to give more convincing explanations than those given.
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