- Alexey Pertsev has been freed under electronic watch.
- Pertsev was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for money laundering
- The developer has been in jail since 2022.
On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 10 am local time, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was released from custody following a court ruling that favoured electronic surveillance over continued pretrial detention.
Pertsev was charged with money laundering, linked to the US Treasury’s sanctions against Tornado Cash for alleged involvement in money laundering and illicit finance and has been detained since August 2022.
Notably, Pertsev’s release comes nearly a month after the Texas court has overturned sanctions on Tornado Cash.
Pertsev expressed his gratitude for this opportunity, taking to X to say, “Dear Friends, on Friday 7 February at 10 am I will be free! It is not real freedom, but it is better than prison.” He further noted that this development would give him “a chance to work on my appeal and fight for justice.”
Alexey Pertsev’s woes
Pertsev’s case has been under the international spotlight since the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022, accusing the platform and its developers of facilitating money laundering.
Despite these allegations, Pertsev and his legal team have contested the charges, arguing that developers should not be held accountable for how their open-source software is used by others. This argument resonates with many in the cryptocurrency community who advocate for the separation of developers’ liability from the actions of users.
Previously, the Dutch court countered Pertsev’s defence, stating that Pertsev and his co-founders at Tornado Cash did not take adequate measures to prevent misuse by criminal entities, including the notorious North Korean cybercrime group, Lazarus. The court went ahead and sentenced Pertsev to five years and four months in prison for money laundering, a ruling which his lawyers immediately appealed.
Pertesev had applied for bail multiple times without success, with the prosecution labelling him as a “flight risk.”
Therefore, the court’s decision to allow electronic monitoring represents a shift in perspective, possibly acknowledging the complexities involved in prosecuting tech developers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.
As Pertsev now focuses on his appeal, the crypto community and legal observers watch closely, recognizing this case’s potential to influence future legal interpretations of developer accountability in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.
