Alleged Tornado Cash Developer Arrested by Dutch Government, Accusing of Assisting Criminals

An alleged Tornado Cash developer was arrested by the Dutch government after he was accused of using the crypto mixing service to help criminals.

For those unfamiliar with Tornado Cash, it is a cryptocurrency service that allows digital coin consumers to conduct transactions while hiding their crypto origins and destinations.

Although many experts shared their concerns, saying that criminals can use crypto mixers, government officials still don't consider them illegal blockchain services.

Now, it seems like a crypto employee has already become the proof that digital coin mixers can be used for malicious activities.

Alleged Tornado Cash Developer Arrested by Dutch Government

According to Tech Crunch's latest report, The Dutch FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service) announced that it arrested a 29-year-old guy.

FIOD officials claimed that this man is a Tornado Cash developer who uses the crypto mixing service to help criminals hide their financial flows.

They added that the suspect also facilitated money laundering. The arrest of the man was confirmed days after the U.S. government decided to sanction Tornado Cash.

"These advanced technologies, such as decentralized organizations that may facilitate money laundering are receiving extra attention from the FIOD," said the Dutch government agency via its official press release.

U.S. Blacklisted Tornado Cash

Because of the risks that Tornado Cash poses, the U.S. Treasury Department decided to blacklist the virtual currency mixer on Monday, Aug. 9, as reported by Ars Technica.

Officials explained that this is needed since the digital coin mixer is believed to have laundered roughly $7 billion in cryptocurrencies ever since it was created in 2019.

Of course, blockchain consumers criticized the decision of the U.S. Treasury Department, saying that it will affect all Americans relying on Tornado Cash.

Recently, thousands of Solena users lost their money after the million-dollar crypto heist.

On the other hand, Pictet Group shared its opinion about cryptocurrency being unacceptable in the private banking sector.

For more news updates about cryptocurrencies and other related business tech topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis