tl;dr
Developer Alexey Pertsev is facing trial in the Netherlands for allegedly laundering $1.2 billion in illicit funds through the Tornado Cash platform, with over 30 transactions being flagged as illegal. The platform, which previously allowed anonymous transactions, faced sanctions from the OFAC in 20...
Developer Alexey Pertsev is facing trial in the Netherlands for allegedly laundering $1.2 billion in illicit funds through the Tornado Cash platform, with over 30 transactions being flagged as illegal. The platform, which previously allowed anonymous transactions, faced sanctions from the OFAC in 2022, leading to a significant decline in cash inflows. Another developer, Roman Storm, also faced accusations of money laundering, while privacy advocates and former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have publicly supported the accused developers.
Since his arrest in August 2022, Pertsev has dismissed the allegations of breaching money laundering laws. The latest indictment from the Netherlands claims that Pertsev was involved in money laundering on Tornado Cash, referring to over 30 transactions conducted on the platform that were deemed illegal. Among these transactions, the Dutch prosecutors also flagged one involving 175 ETH allegedly linked to the Ronin Bridge hack, according to DL News. Pertsev is currently awaiting trial in the Netherlands, which is scheduled for March 26, on charges related to money laundering and additional financial offenses. Tornado Cash was once the top crypto coin mixing platform, allowing users to transact anonymously. However, in 2022, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) prohibited US citizens from using the service, claiming that it had facilitated the laundering of over $7 billion in crypto.
This included $455 million suspected to have been pilfered in 2022 by the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking entity linked to the North Korean government. In addition to Pertsev, another Tornado Cash developer, Roman Storm, was accused of laundering more than $1 billion in illicit proceeds shortly thereafter. While privacy advocates denounced OFAC’s move, both individuals later received public support from Edward Snowden, the former NSA whistleblower. According to Chainalysis’ stats, the platform suffered a 93% decline in monthly cash inflows post-sanctions compared to pre-sanctions averages.
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