Developer Alexey Pertsev has been found guilty of money laundering related to the popular decentralized exchange platform Tornado Cash.

Alexey Pertsev, the developer behind Tornado Cash, has been convicted of money laundering by a Dutch judge at the s-Hertogenbosch court. The trial followed an indictment alleging that Pertsev had participated in a pattern of money laundering between July 9, 2019, and August 10, 2022. The prosecution argued that Pertsev should have harbored suspicions about the illicit origins of transactions on the Tornado Cash platform.Pertsev was detained in the Netherlands in August 2022 after Tornado Cash was blacklisted by the U.S. government. At the time, the U.S. Treasury accused the platform of being instrumental in North Korean hacking group Lazarus's crypto thefts, including the $625 million hack of Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network.The outcome of Pertsev’s trial could have significant implications for the upcoming trials of other Tornado Cash developers. Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, who were involved in the project's development, face allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations in the United States. Storm is scheduled to stand trial in September, while Semenov remains at large.Storm attempted to have all charges dismissed in late March, claiming that he did not operate a money laundering business and did not violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. His attorneys argued that Tornado Cash was not a custodial mixing service and did not meet the definition of a “financial institution.” They further maintained that Storm had no control over the service and could not prevent entities like Lazarus Group from utilizing it. The U.S. Department of Justice rejected this motion, asserting that the platform was explicitly advertised as a mixer in 2019 and comprised a website, user interface, smart contracts, and a network of “relayers.”Following this, the U.S. Treasury added Tornado Cash to its Specially Designated Nationals list, effectively prohibiting American citizens from using the mixing service.