On Saturday, August 20, a rally was held in Amsterdam’s Dam Square in support of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev. CoinDesk writes about it.

On August 12, Dutch authorities arrested an unnamed man on suspicion of money laundering and concealing criminal financial flows through a cryptocurrency mixer. Later it became known that we were talking about Pertsev.

According to the publication, after a closed hearing, the developer remained in custody for two weeks. Pertsev’s arrest caused an uproar in society. Announcing the rally, the initiative group said that the actions of the authorities set a dangerous precedent.

According to media reports, more than 50 people attended the rallies. They demanded the developer’s release and stated that “open source code is not a crime”. One of the protesters commented on the broadcast that the incident with Pertsev “had a deterrent effect against innovation and society”.

“Alex is just a developer. They should go after the real criminals,” said Web3 developer Naomi Schettini.

According to him, he is not responsible for attackers who use the code for illegal activities.

“It’s like saying the inventor of the knife was guilty of murder. It’s really funny, ”added the rally participant.

Rodrigo Zapata, head of one of the blockchain projects, noted that the arrest could have ramifications for developers in other areas. He called for updating the legislation “for the open source age”.

8 August OFAC Added to the list of sanctions is the site of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash and its associated 39 Ethereum and 6 USDC addresses.

According to the agency, since the creation of Tornado Cash in 2019, attackers have laundered more than $7 billion in cryptocurrencies with its help. According to Elliptic, it is correct to talk about $ 1.54 billion.

Recall that Jess Powell, CEO of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, called the sanctions against the mixer unconstitutional, and TRM Labs analysts called it a challenge for compliance.

Members of the decentralized autonomous organization Tornado DAO urged the community to hire a team of lawyers to challenge the denial of service in court.

Later, Coin Center, a human rights organization focused on the crypto industry, announced its intention to challenge the restrictions imposed by the United States.

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