Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been granted supervised parole by a Dutch court, letting him leave prison with electronic monitoring while appealing his money laundering conviction. The court has scheduled his release for February 7 at 10 a.m. local time.
Pertsev, who had been detained since August 2022, was convicted in May 2024 and sentenced to more than five years in prison. Authorities accused him of aiding unlawful financial transactions via Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service that aims to improve transaction secrecy.
Pertsev announced his release on social media, stating that while he will no longer be in prison, he will stay under close monitoring. “This is not real freedom, but it gives me a chance to work on my appeal and fight for justice,” said the judge.
During his trial, Pertsev maintained that he should not be held responsible for how users used Tornado Cash, highlighting that the platform is a neutral instrument. However, the court determined that he and his co-founders failed to put protections in place to prevent criminals from misusing it.
The case has provoked heated debate in the Bitcoin world, with many viewing Pertsev’s arrest as a broader attack on privacy-focused software development. Supporters believe that open-source developers should not face criminal charges for how their software is utilized by third parties.
His legal battle comes amid a bigger assault on Tornado Cash, in which US officials are also seeking its co-founders. Roman Storm, another major developer, was charged with assisting money laundering and is currently awaiting trial, while fellow co-founder Roman Semenov is still at large and on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
The US Treasury had previously sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022, but a recent court ruling lifted the sanctions, raising concerns about regulatory approaches to privacy-focused cryptocurrency solutions.
As Pertsev prepares for his appeal, his case continues to get global attention, with the potential to create a precedent for the future of crypto-related software development and financial privacy.
