Jack Recider

So the guys who started Tornado Cash, two have been arrested, and in May of this year, the first verdict came in. Alexey Pertsev was tried in the Netherlands, and the judge found him guilty and sentenced him to five years and four months in prison. The cops took his Porsche and 1.9 million euros in cryptocurrency.

So the guys who started Tornado Cash, two have been arrested, and in May of this year, the first verdict came in. Alexey Pertsev was tried in the Netherlands, and the judge found him guilty and sentenced him to five years and four months in prison. The cops took his Porsche and 1.9 million euros in cryptocurrency.

The press statement from the Netherlands government says, quote, tornado cash is not a legitimate tool that has unintentionally been abused by criminals, end quote. Not a legitimate tool. In fact, the judge said specifically he could not find any legitimate use for this tool, as if privacy itself is a crime.

The press statement from the Netherlands government says, quote, tornado cash is not a legitimate tool that has unintentionally been abused by criminals, end quote. Not a legitimate tool. In fact, the judge said specifically he could not find any legitimate use for this tool, as if privacy itself is a crime.

Yeah, we've gone all over the road here, haven't we? How are you going to edit this one down? I do not envy you that task. Another way to look at this is that the feds are saying that the developers of the tool are responsible for how users use it. And that's a bit crazy, if you ask me. It's like saying a lighter company is responsible anytime someone uses their lighter to commit arson.

Yeah, we've gone all over the road here, haven't we? How are you going to edit this one down? I do not envy you that task. Another way to look at this is that the feds are saying that the developers of the tool are responsible for how users use it. And that's a bit crazy, if you ask me. It's like saying a lighter company is responsible anytime someone uses their lighter to commit arson.

Or a drone maker is responsible anytime someone uses their drone illegally, like spying on people, flying in the wrong airspace, or dropping a bomb on someone. Or it's like saying a VPN provider gets arrested, shut down, sanctioned because some of their users went online and did something illegal. Or my goodness, is an encrypted messaging app responsible for people doing criminal activities on it?

Or a drone maker is responsible anytime someone uses their drone illegally, like spying on people, flying in the wrong airspace, or dropping a bomb on someone. Or it's like saying a VPN provider gets arrested, shut down, sanctioned because some of their users went online and did something illegal. Or my goodness, is an encrypted messaging app responsible for people doing criminal activities on it?

I mean, we know criminals use iPhones. Apple knows criminals use their phones. In all these cases, the tech itself is neutral and it's up to the user to use it responsibly. Governments have never faced anything like this before and they simply have no precedent to act on here and in my opinion are just drawing really fuzzy lines arbitrarily.

I mean, we know criminals use iPhones. Apple knows criminals use their phones. In all these cases, the tech itself is neutral and it's up to the user to use it responsibly. Governments have never faced anything like this before and they simply have no precedent to act on here and in my opinion are just drawing really fuzzy lines arbitrarily.

They can't even come to a consensus on whether cryptocurrency is money or not.

They can't even come to a consensus on whether cryptocurrency is money or not.

Okay. I don't buy that argument. Why? Because all this happened and they didn't catch the real criminals here. In fact, I think even if they implemented KYC, North Korea would just have used like some fake ID and it wouldn't have helped catch them or slow them down at all. North Koreans are still on the loose with their fresh and clean $400 million. And they're the real criminals here.

Okay. I don't buy that argument. Why? Because all this happened and they didn't catch the real criminals here. In fact, I think even if they implemented KYC, North Korea would just have used like some fake ID and it wouldn't have helped catch them or slow them down at all. North Koreans are still on the loose with their fresh and clean $400 million. And they're the real criminals here.

Go after them. It's crazy that this story starts with someone stealing hundreds of millions of dollars and the people who end up in prison are the privacy advocates. And as I'm researching all this, I had to refresh exactly what does money laundering mean?

Go after them. It's crazy that this story starts with someone stealing hundreds of millions of dollars and the people who end up in prison are the privacy advocates. And as I'm researching all this, I had to refresh exactly what does money laundering mean?

The act of money laundering is to hide the cash you have that was involved in some illegal activity, stolen money or drug money or something like that. Me trying to hide my transactions isn't a crime. It's only a crime if I'm trying to hide criminal activity.

The act of money laundering is to hide the cash you have that was involved in some illegal activity, stolen money or drug money or something like that. Me trying to hide my transactions isn't a crime. It's only a crime if I'm trying to hide criminal activity.

And by the way, Tornado Cash, despite being sanctioned, is still up and running because that's how it was designed, fully autonomous and decentralized. In fact, there's YouTube videos out there that explain how to still use Tornado Cash despite it being sanctioned, basically showing you how to get around sanctions. I mean, videos like that surely should be illegal, right?

And by the way, Tornado Cash, despite being sanctioned, is still up and running because that's how it was designed, fully autonomous and decentralized. In fact, there's YouTube videos out there that explain how to still use Tornado Cash despite it being sanctioned, basically showing you how to get around sanctions. I mean, videos like that surely should be illegal, right?