Analysts found a connection between the developer Tornado Cash and the FSB

The developer of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer Alexei Pertsev previously worked in the company related to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). This is reported by Fortune with reference to the report of the analytical company Kharon.

On August 8, OFAC included the Tornado Cash website, as well as related to it 39 Ethereum- and 6 USDC addresses. According to the agency, since the creation of the service in 2019, with its help, attackers laundered cryptocurrency worth more than $ 7 billion. Part of the funds is associated with the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group.

On August 12, law enforcement officers of the Netherlands arrested the developer Tornado Cash on suspicion of involvement in money laundering and concealing criminal financial flows through a mixer. It later became known that we are talking about 29-year-old pepper.

The actions of the authorities caused a resonance in a global crypto community, concerned about an attack on the sphere with open source. The rally was held in Amsterdam in support of Pertsev, the founder of Cardano Charles Hoskinson spoke in defense of Tornado Cash developers.

However, national security experts believe that the public does not have complete information about the causes of sanctions by the US government, the publication notes.

According to the Kharon report, the mixer uses the software developed by the Delaware Corporation TraxSec. Pertsev is its founder and CEO.

In 2017, he worked as an information security specialist and smart contracts at Digital Security LLC. In 2018, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation designated the company as providing material and technical support for the FSB since 2015.

“This guy worked [in“ digital security ”] and himself conducted tests to overcome. And then the Ministry of Finance designated the company as the promoting FSB in hacks, ”said Kharon Vice President Nick Grotus.

According to the senior researcher at the Center for New https://gagarin.news/ru/news/bsc-hack-what-is-known-so-far/ American Security, Alex Gereden, the facts “open up big problems with trust in Tornado Cash developers”.

“This is rather deep information that explains why the US government and the Dutch authorities have taken certain actions,” he added.

Data from Kharon sharply contrast with the reaction of the crypto community, which involves only the “unkind intentions of the authorities”, the gradin.

The wife of the developer Ksenia Malik in the comment Coindesk denied his involvement in the Russian special services.

“Alexey [Pertsev] was never connected with the FSB of the Russian Federation and similar organizations. We moved to the Netherlands in the hope of a calm, stable and free life, ”she emphasized.

Earlier, the industry human rights organization Coin Center said that OFAC exceeded the authority in case of sanctions against the mixer. CEO of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange Jess Powell called the actions of the regulator anti -constitutional and violating the right of citizens to confidentiality.

Congressman Tom Emer wrote a letter to the US Minister of Finance Janet Yellen, in which he demanded an explanation regarding the restrictions on Tornado Cash.

“There are many reasons, justifications and respect for how OFAC should determine [sanctions] enterprises,” the Grand.

Grotus admitted that Kharon’s conclusions do not prove any fundamental motive for the actions of the regulator against Tornado Cash.

“It seems that there is a more complex and complex picture, which will take more time to unravel,” he concluded.

Recall that in May, OFAC entered the Blender cryptomixer to the sanctions list, which did not cause a noticeable community reaction.

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