Tornado Cash Developer’s Arrest Stirs an Uproar in Amsterdam

• More than 50 Protestors congregate to raise their voice against the arrest of Alexey Pertsev.
• Pertsev is yet to be charged, after a detention of two weeks.
• “Alex is just a developer. They should be going after the true criminals,” says Naomi Schettini.

More than 50 protesters stormed Dam Square, Amsterdam, on Saturday, 20th of August, demanding the release of the 29-year-old Alexey Pertsev, blockchain developer, who was arrested on the 10th of Aug 2022. He was arrested on suspicion of having involvement with the Tornado Cash Protocol, which was sanctioned by the US Treasury Regulatory for money laundering.

Dutch financial crime authority FIOD said that the arrest was on suspicion of involvement in concealing criminal financial flows and facilitating money laundering through a service. Pertsev, who was held two days after the freezing of Tornado Cash was given a verdict on the 12th of Aug where the judge adjudicated him to be kept under custody for two weeks following a closed-door-hearing. 

Although different press releases have different explanations, the Dutch Authorities are yet to offer a statement on the law Pertsev broke. Pertsev is yet to be charged with any wrongdoing.

The arrest of Pertsev too has raised concerns in many about the stagnation of the future of Web 3 in the Netherlands blockchain ecosystem.

Protestor and Web3 developer Naomi Schettini said:

Alex is just a developer. They should be going after the true criminals. Pertsev is not responsible for criminals using his code for doing illicit activity. That’s like saying the inventor of the knife is responsible for murders. It’s truly ridiculous.

The FIOD pointed out that the loose structure of the Web 3 projects have given an opening for those behind these decentralized organizations to profit on a large scale.