Ksenia Malik, the wife of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, has hit out at Dutch authorities for treating her husband as a “dangerous criminal” following his arrest last week. Pertsev was arrested on 12 August by the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD), and is still not allowed to talk to his wife.
Treated like a dangerous criminal
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Malik shares that her husband is treated in the Netherlands “as if he were a dangerous criminal.” Malik is concerned that Pertsev was arrested without warning for something she does not see the harm in. “It is incomprehensible to me that someone can be arrested for writing open source code,” Pertsev said.
Malik says she has no idea at the moment how her husband is doing and can only imagine how difficult it must be for him. If Malik’s statements are true, then the Dutch authorities have completely isolated Pertsev, not even a short phone call. Despite the fact that Malik feels quite helpless, she receives support from all sorts of quarters.
20 August protest in Amsterdam
On 20 August, 1inch, decentralised finance aggregator, is organising a protest for Pertsev and the right of developers to develop open-source code. 1inch is very concerned about the incident, because earlier, it called Pertsev’s arrest “the creation of a dangerous precedent that could mean the end of open source software. If developers are no longer safe because of the way others use their software, then open source software will probably be finished soon.
1/ Is it really a crime to be an open-source #blockchain developer nowadays ⁉️
Stand up for the right to build open-source software!
🛡 Help Alex Pertsev get out of jail!
🔗 Sign the petition: https://t.co/r5sdHaYKCN#FreeAlex #OpenSourceNotACrime #DeFi
Why is it important⤵️ pic.twitter.com/CqqD4Ds8AQ
— 1inch (@1inch) August 18, 2022
The protest for Pertsev and open source software, in general, will take place on 20 August at 16:00 on Dam Square in Amsterdam. So far, 28 people have signed up for the event, and the turnout seems to be limited to a small group. If you think this is an important issue and don’t have time to attend the protest tomorrow, you can still express your support on the Telegram group.
Not everyone is happy about Pertsev arrest
Although the media have mainly criticised the arrest of Pertsev, not everyone is negative about the decision of the FIOD. Kevin O’Leary, Billionaire and investor, said in an interview that, he welcomes Pertsev’s arrest. “Privacy tools like Tornado Cash are part of a ‘crypto cowboy’ culture that solves with the power of the law. If we have to sacrifice him, that’s ok, because institutional investors are looking for stability,”
O’Leary said of Pertsev’s arrest
Thus, Kevin O’Leary represents the group of people within the crypto industry who are participating purely to make money. Privacy and other values that are fundamental to the industry are of no interest to him. If privacy stands in the way of a new share price explosion, then
O’Leary should set it aside
There is not much to say about that in itself. It is up to everyone to decide what is important to them. Ultimately, for almost everyone, financial gain plays a role in the decision to invest, but for a group of people it is certainly not the only reason. The possibility of using software to make oneself free and independent of centralised powers is also a motive for some to invest.
