Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev’s Pre-Trial Detention Extended

• Pertsev voiced his displeasure with the court’s decision to prolong his detention.
• In a May 14 ruling, the Dutch s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal convicted Pertsev.

Developers of privacy-preserving technology are understandably concerned by the decision to keep Alexey Pertsev in pre-trial detention. While he awaits trial, Pertsev, developer of the Tornado Cash protocol for mixing cryptocurrencies, will stay in custody.

Pertsev voiced his displeasure with the court’s decision to prolong his detention in a post dated November 21, X. He said that this decision hinders his capacity to adequately prepare for an appeal. The move was made in response to the increasing attention from regulators in Pertsev’s cryptocurrency mixing protocol.

Ongoing Struggle Likely to Continue

Moreover, several members of the Democratic Party in the US House of Representatives pressed Treasury authorities for an update on the status of the crypto-mixing service Tornado Cash on November 14. The service was sanctioned in 2022 but is still operational.

At $1.8 billion, a 45% rise from all of 2023, Tornado Cash received deposits in the first half of 2024—a “resurgence” in mixer use that the legislators emphasized. Despite running a crypto mixing protocol that does not involve custody. Pertsev is nevertheless facing allegations linked to money laundering and is therefore under arrest.

In a May 14 ruling, the Dutch s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal convicted Pertsev guilty of money laundering. On charges that he used the platform to launder $1.2 billion in illegal assets, the developer received a jail term of five years and four months.

Since Tornado Cash is a non-custodial crypto mixing protocol, it never stores or manages the monies. In August 2022, not long after Tornado Cash was banned by the US government, the developer was initially detained in the Netherlands. He was later found guilty despite not having authority over the money.

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