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- Tornado Cash’s governance token, TORN, has experienced a significant 13% surge in the past day, currently trading at $12.81.
- After spending nine months in a Dutch jail, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was temporarily released on Friday, though he still faces a 64-month prison sentence.
Alexey Pertsev, one of the developers of Tornado Cash, was released on Friday. Pertsev posted on X saying, “Dear Friends, on Friday, 7 February, at 10 am, I will be free! It is not real freedom, but it is better than prison.” Though under house arrest and electronic monitoring, Pertsev remains determined to fight his legal battle.
Freedom is priceless, but my freedom cost a lot of money. My house arrest was only possible thanks to the work of lawyers, who were paid from your donations. My fight is not over yet and for a final and confident victory I still need your help. Please support our fight here… pic.twitter.com/WT1eWhXhAi
— Alexey Pertsev (@alex_pertsev) February 7, 2025
He expressed gratitude to his supporters and lawyers, stating:
Freedom is priceless. My house arrest was only possible thanks to the work of lawyers, who were paid from your donations. My fight is not over yet, and for a final and confident victory, I still need your help.
As news of Pertsev’s release spread, Tornado Cash’s native token, TORN, saw a 13% surge in the last 24 hours, trading at $12.07. This marks a 32% increase over the past 30 days and a 617% increase over the past year. However, the token remains 97.08% below its all-time high of $436.16, recorded on February 13, 2021. Despite a 0.90% decline over the last week, TORN has outperformed the global cryptocurrency market, which has seen an 8.40% downturn over the same period.
Tornado Cash: A Brief Overview
As we reported, Tornado Cash was launched back in December as an open-source, non-custodial cryptocurrency mixer designed to enhance privacy by concealing transaction histories. It runs on Ethereum and other compatible networks, enabling users to mix their funds with others, making transactions more difficult to track. The platform’s smart contracts offer two key benefits: privacy, which ensures anonymity in digital transactions, and immutability, meaning the code remains unchanged and beyond the control of its original developers.
However, Tornado Cash has been controversial due to its use in illicit activities. In August 2022, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the protocol, citing its role in laundering stolen crypto assets. This included $455 million stolen by a North Korean hacker group. In November 2022, the agency expanded its sanctions, blacklisting 53 Ethereum addresses linked to Tornado Cash. These actions led to legal challenges from Tornado Cash users, who argued that the sanctions violated U.S. laws.
Following the sanctions, Alexey Pertsev was arrested in May 2024, and prosecutors accused him of facilitating money laundering through Tornado Cash and placed him under house arrest and electronic monitoring until his trial date. Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, Pertsev’s colleagues, are also facing similar charges in the United States. Storm is set to stand trial in April, where he risks a maximum sentence of 45 years if convicted. Meanwhile, Semenov’s whereabouts remain unknown, and he is currently listed as a wanted fugitive by the FBI.
