Tornado Cash Developer Freed, Dutch Court Rules

THE HAGUE, NL – Russian developer Alexey Pertsev, who programmed code for Tornado Cash privacy protocol, has been granted permission to await trial from home, a Dutch court ruled Thursday. A Twitter account dedicated to freeing Pertsev, @Free_Alexey, retweeted a post announcing the court’s decision.

It seems that @alex_pertsev will finally be able to go home in a week

That means that after 259 days of imprisonment without a trial he will be able to sleep in his own bed and see his wife

He will be able to work on his defense for the trial that will start on the 24th of May pic.twitter.com/NKHLEw3MiI

— Lefteris Karapetsas | Hiring for @rotkiapp (@LefterisJP) April 20, 2023

Tornado Cash was sanctioned by US authorities last summer after it was alleged that Tornado Cash was linked to Lazarus Group, a network of North Korean state hackers. Lazarus Group has allegedly laundered $7 billion since 2019. 

In August 2022, Pertsev was arrested by the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) on suspicion of facilitating money laundering through Tornado Cash. Since his arrest, Pertsev has been held in custody without trial. 

The Dutch public prosecutor has claimed Pertsev is a flight risk as he could tamper with evidence but could not provide sufficient evidence to support the allegation. Pertsev will return home next week but his location will be electronically monitored. A hearing has been scheduled for May 24, 2023.