Dutch authorities arrested Pertsev in August after the U.S. sanctioned Tornado Cash’s alleged role in laundering money and use by North Korean hackers. Pertsev's September appeal was rejected and he was forced to remain in jail until Nov. 22. Now, he must remain incarcerated until at least February. 

If Pertsev, a Russian national, were to be released, he may be sent to fight in the war against Ukraine, The Block reported Malik as saying. She had also previously confirmed that Tornado Cash’s developer is indeed Pertsev. 

Tornado Cash pools the funds of multiple users before redistributing, or mixing, them. The mixed crypto is often harder to trace, and so hackers looked to Tornado Cash to launder their stolen money. 

(By MK Manoylov and Yogita Khatri)