Timeline | Tornado Cash founder Alexey Pertsev is about to go on trial

Original title: "Tornado Cash dev Alexey Pertsev's verdict will change the course of crypto privacy—here's a timeline"

Original author: Inbar Preiss, DLnews

Translation: Joyce, BlockBeats

Editor's note:

Tornado Cash is a privacy protection protocol that helps users obfuscate their on-chain transaction history. In August 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that the protocol would be included in the sanctions list. The agency claimed in a statement that cybercriminals such as Lazarus Group use Tornado Cash as a money laundering tool.

Following OFAC's announcement, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigations Bureau arrested Tornado Cash core developer Alexey Pertsev on suspicion of assisting money laundering. After several postponements, Alexey Pertsev's trial hearing will be held today.

DLnews compiled a timeline from Tornado Cash's launch in 2019 to the arrest of the founder, which BlockBeats compiled as follows:

Of the many legal challenges facing the crypto industry, the Tornado Cash case may be the most serious. Many cryptocurrency experts say that the future of technological development and privacy is at stake.

On Tuesday, the first trial will take place in the court in the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch. Here, 31-year-old Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev will hear a hearing on whether he is guilty of laundering $1.2 billion in illegal funds.

If he is found guilty, experts expect a "chilling effect" on the global open source community. Developers may be afraid to write code if it is misused, and investment may decrease.

If Pertsev is acquitted, the judge will accept his explanation that Tornado Cash’s core technology — smart contracts — can operate legally independent of human intervention.

Even more poignant is the fact that managers of such platforms cannot be held accountable for who uses the technology.

Here is a timeline of events that led to this momentous moment:

2019

August 6: Tornado Cash goes live, enabling users to “send Ethereum cryptocurrency 100% anonymously.”

September 13: The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposes sanctions on North Korean cyber groups, including the Lazarus Group. Authorities note the misuse of crypto tools and hacks of crypto exchanges.

2020

May 13: Tornado Cash completed the so-called trusted setup ceremony, a process that decentralizes and improves the security of the protocol.

June 4: Tornado Cash developers deployed an optional compliance tool for users to choose to reveal their transaction history when needed.

September 25: Hackers stole $275 million worth of cryptocurrency from the KuCoin exchange. This is one of the largest hacks that Dutch prosecutors have accused Tornado Cash of being involved in.

2022

March 23: Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge lost about $625 million in a hack. This is one of the largest cryptocurrency hacks to date, and the largest prosecutors say criminals laundered money through Tornado Cash.

May 6: OFAC sanctions Blender, the first virtual currency mixer used by North Korean cybercrime gangs.

June 24: Lazarus Group hacks the Harmony Horizon bridge, where nearly $100 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency was passed through Tornado Cash. According to Dutch prosecutors, this is another major hack using Tornado Cash to launder money.

August 8: OFAC imposes sanctions on Tornado Cash for being used to launder $7 billion.

August 10: Alexey Pertsev is arrested in the Netherlands and jailed without public charges.

October 12: Coin Center sues OFAC over Tornado Cash sanctions.

November 22: Dutch prosecutors reveal charges for the first time in a court hearing.

2023

April 20: Pertsev is released from jail pending trial.

August 23: The U.S. Department of Justice charges Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and sanctions developer Roman Semenov.

2024

March 25-26: Pertsev goes on trial for two days in the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

April 5: The US trade association filed a brief in the court in Roman Storm’s defense and outlined each of the allegations against him.

May 14: A Dutch judge issued a ruling in the Pertsev case.

September 23: Roman Storm’s trial is scheduled to begin in the United States.

「Original link」