Key takeout
- Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev has been released from prison under electronic surveillance.
- The torn tokens have increased in value following news of Pertsev's release, highlighting ongoing debate in the Crypto sector.
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Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev has been released from prison and placed under electronic surveillance as he prepares to appeal a money laundering conviction in connection with the Crypto Mixer platform.
Freedom is valuable, but my freedom costs a lot. Thanks to the lawyer's work paid out of your contribution, it was possible to arrest my home. My battle is not over yet, and I still need your help for a final and confident victory. Support our fight here… pic.twitter.com/wt1ewhxhai
– Alexey Pertsev (@alex_pertsev) February 7, 2025
A Dutch court has suspended Pertsev's pretrial detention, and his release was scheduled for today, February 7th.
The decision arises amid ongoing debate over the legal treatment of crypto developers focused on privacy, in accordance with multiple rejected bail requests.
His case has attracted support from privacy advocates and the crypto community, with organizations like Justicedao raising funds for his legal defense. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 30 ETH to the Tornado Cash Legal Defense Fund in May.
“Freedom is valuable, but my freedom costs a lot of money… My battle is not over yet… Please support our fight here ➡️ http://codewithoutfear .eu #freedomtocode”
In November, the federal court of appeals ruled that Treasury sanctions on tornado cash were illegal and emphasized restrictions on government regulatory power over decentralized technologies.
Sanctions had previously affected users whose funds were locked or affected users who were blocked from exchanges due to interactions with authorized addresses.
The torn tokens associated with Tornado Cash have increased in value following news of the release of Pertsev.
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