Court Finds Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev Guilty of Money Laundering

On May 14, a Dutch court in s-Hertogenbosch found Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev guilty of money laundering and sentenced him to five years and four months in prison.

The court established that Pertsev participated in laundering $1.2 billion worth of assets through Tornado Cash from July 9, 2019, to August 10, 2022.

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Although Pertsev had no control over the funds, the prosecution argued that he should have suspected the criminal origins of the transactions processed via the Tornado Cash platform.

The crypto mixer Tornado Cash has been scrutinized for its connections to several high-profile cybercrimes, including a $625 million theft from Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus.

Pertsev's arrest in August 2022 came shortly after the US Treasury blacklisted Tornado Cash for allegedly facilitating such cyber thefts.

This ruling not only impacts Pertsev but also sets a precedent for the treatment of other Tornado Cash developers facing similar charges. This includes Roman Storm, scheduled for trial in the US in September, and Roman Semenov, who is currently at large.

However, due to differences in how US and Dutch laws approach personal accountability in alleged crimes of this nature, Storm is not held responsible for the laundering of $1.2 billion.

This conviction underscores the increasing legal risks for developers and operators of cryptocurrency mixing services, which authorities around the world are scrutinizing more rigorously.