Jail Time For TornadoCash Developer Continues
Alexey Pertsev has been in the custody of the Dutch justice system for more than 100 days - and he will have to stay there for the time being.
On August 10, 2022, Alexey Pertsev was arrested on suspicion of facilitating money laundering by the Dutch FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service), just two days after Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
The allegations that Tornado Cash was used by North Korean hackers to launder more than a billion U.S. dollars were repeated. In the following, the request for bail was subsequently denied, and Alexey has been in custody ever since.
Already 100+ Days In Jail
As of today, the 29-year-old has already spent over 100 days in custody, unimaginable for most people. But the Dutch justice system has now gone one better and ordered Pertsev to remain in custody until February 20. Before hearing of the rejection, Alexey made the following comments:
“I am ready to accept all restrictions [in case of release on bail] [..] I just want to be able to go to church with my wife.”
Prosecutor Martine Boerlage is not covering himself with glory, as he apparently does not understand the nature of a decentralized application. I will not go into further detail about her remarks here, those looking for quotes can find them at Coindesk.
Prosecutors - Incompetence Or Baid Faith?
Incompetence or bad faith, that is the first question in a case like this. This developer has done nothing more than publish code. He was not in control of funds, he made no promises to launder money, he did not offer money laundering as a service ... there is no basis for this action by the judiciary, it is a scandal.
It's 2022 and I can't imagine that the concepts of decentralization and the applications created with smart contracts are still a big question mark for such people. These people know what they are doing; they want to make an example and deter other developers. Unfortunately, they succeed in doing so, as I know from personal contacts.
Why We Might Have To Go Underground Again
DeFi, privacy coins, all these are things that the old structures are terrified of. The potential has been recognized and every effort is being made to turn DeFi into a corporate business. We need to go back to the roots, to talented developers sitting in basements, and not in spacious loft offices. Away from the VCs, the business angels, towards true crowdfunding and collaboration within a community.
Regulators, governments, traditional finance, they are not on our side, never have been, never will be. We have to create something of our own here or end up in an updated hamster wheel at the end of the day.
I really hope that Alexey gets out as soon as possible. I won’t stop to monitor this case and neither should you. If you are interested in helping directly, check out setalexfree.nl.
And do not forget: The future is decentralized!