The past few months have been more than just dramatic for the crypto space. From the start of the bear market, the collapse of Terra, the excess bankruptcy filings, alongside the arrest and takedown of crypto mixer Tornado Cash’s developer, Alexey Pertsev.

The incident infuriated a majority of the crypto industry. Several persons noted how a good number of developers behind scam projects were still out there in the open while Pertsev was arrested for simply upholding decentralization. The crypto community called out centralized systems suggesting that they weren’t ready yet for the level of decentralization that is offered by the crypto-verse. However, its now looking like the arrest was for a much bigger reason.
According to a recent report composed by Kharon, it was pointed out by an intelligence firm that Pertsev once was part of a company that was linked to FSB, a Russian security agency. It should also be taken into consideration that Tornado Cash operates on a software that was formulated by PepperSec a Delaware-registered corporation.
Speaking about the same, vice president of research at Kharon Nick Grothaus, said,

“You had this guy working for [Digital Security OOO] and doing pen testing himself, and then Treasury designated the company for helping the FSB’s hacking capabilities.”

It should be noted that the usage of crypto mixers hit an all-time high this year. Funds sent to mixers by cybercriminals groups from Russia in particular was high.

What will happen to the public outcry now?
As earlier mentioned, the arrest is now seemingly much bigger than just targeting an open-source platform. Alex Zerden, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security had the same comments on the issue and said,

“This opens up a lot of credibility issues for the developers of Tornado Cash. This is pretty profound information that informs why the U.S. government and Dutch authorities have taken certain actions. There seems to be a more complex and complicated picture that takes more time to unravel.”

The public has continued their protests against the arrest of Pertsev’s. Protesters reportedly gathered in Amsterdam asking for the release of the Tornado Cash developer. Several persons were spotted screaming “open source [code] is not a crime.”
According to Zerden said, Pertsev’s link to Russia could open up more doors in the case and we’ll see how things will unfold.

Featured Image Source: coingape.com