Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev’s lawyers plan to use a U.S. court ruling that smart contracts should not be subject to national security laws to help appeal his money laundering conviction, DLNews reported.
Pertsev was sentenced to five years in prison by a Dutch court for failing to prevent North Korean hackers and others from using Tornado Cash to launder money. The U.S. court's ruling may affect the Dutch court's consideration of Pertsev's appeal.
Pertsev's lawyers said the transaction was triggered by the user and the recipient was not aware of it. The US court ruling, while not legally binding in the Netherlands, could affect the definition of open source software liability.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash for being used to support North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Pertsev argued at trial that he should not be held responsible for the actions of his users, but the judge rejected that argument.
