"Crypto Developer Freed: Battle for Privacy Continues"

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been released from prison after spending three years in pretrial detention. Pertsev will continue to appeal against his money laundering conviction linked to Tornado Cash. He was released under the condition that he remains under electronic monitoring, with his appeal potentially setting a precedent for how courts handle privacy-focused crypto developers.

Pertsev, a Russian national, was sentenced to 64 months in a Dutch prison last year. He announced his release in a post on X, thanking his lawyers and those who donated towards his legal expenses. Pertsev's pretrial detention was suspended by the court to allow him to focus on appealing his conviction. He posted on X, stating, "Freedom is priceless, but my freedom cost a lot of money. My house arrest was only possible thanks to the work of lawyers, who were paid from your donations. My fight is not over yet, and for a final and confident victory, I still need your help. Please support our fight here."

The United States Treasury imposed several sanctions on Tornado Cash in August 2022, accusing it of enabling the laundering of over $7 billion since 2019. Pertsev was arrested in the same month and charged with money laundering and facilitating illicit transactions through the platform. Since his arrest, Pertsev has been actively appealing his conviction and asking for bail, but his requests were denied. Pertsev's defense maintains he created open-source software and should not be held liable or criminalized for its misuse.

The case against Pertsev and Tornado Cash has ignited a debate over privacy and whether software developers must be liable for how their code is used. Pertsev's case gained momentum after a US federal appeals court ruled that sanctions against Tornado Cash were unlawful. A court filing on January 21 confirmed the district court judgment had been overturned and sent back for review.