Free Alex Pertsev

Exactly two years after my arrest in Amsterdam, I’m back behind bars, appealing a 5-year sentence. This fight isn’t just about me; it’s about our privacy rights and the future of software developers. Please join this legal battle and donate via Juicebox. #freealexpertsev

Today, the SDNY prosecutors filed a letter to Judge Failla requesting a retrial date. They want to go again in October. The prosecutors want to retry me on 2 counts the jury couldn't unanimously decide on. A jury of 12 Americans heard 4 weeks of evidence and deadlocked: no verdict on money laundering, and no verdict on sanctions violations. The government's response? Try again to make writing code a crime. @realDonaldTrump declared the "War on Crypto is over." 🇺🇸 AG @DAGToddBlanche's memo: DOJ "is not a digital assets regulator" and won't target mixers for end-user acts. @USTreasury lifted Tornado Cash sanctions entirely. ✅ Also Treasury, March 2026: "Lawful users of digital assets may leverage mixers to enable financial privacy." — official report to Congress under the GENIUS Act. But the SDNY prosecutors — same country, same DOJ — just filed to retry me anyway. 🤔 ⠀ The 2 counts = up to 40 years in federal prison. ⛓️ For writing open-source code. For a protocol I don't control. For transactions I never touched. A jury already couldn't agree this was criminal. But the SDNY prosecutors want to keep trying with the hope of getting a different answer. ⠀ I have a daughter. I have a life in Seattle. I will never stop fighting for freedom. ❤️ But I need to be honest with you: Four weeks of trial. A hung jury. Now they want to do it all over again in October. I have basically exhausted my legal defense funds. And I'm staring down another full federal trial. 😔 Every dollar raised goes directly to keeping this fight alive — attorneys, experts, the full defense apparatus it takes to stand up to the SDNY prosecutors. This isn't abstract. If I can't fund a defense, they win by default. If you care about financial privacy, if you write code and believe that code is speech — this is the moment. 💻🔐 👇

TheDAO is back. BULLISH A decade later, we’re opening a new chapter. TheDAO Security Fund: activating 75,000+ ETH to strengthen Ethereum security. thedao.fund

@dimabuterin @post_polar_ Is it @alex_pertsev on the t-shirt? 👀

1/ 📰NEWS: Solana Policy Institute is donating $500,000 to the legal defense funds of @rstormsf and @alex_pertsev - two software developers who worked on @TornadoCash, a cryptocurrency privacy protocol, and now face prison time.

1/ 📰NEWS: Solana Policy Institute is donating $500,000 to the legal defense funds of @rstormsf and @alex_pertsev - two software developers who worked on @TornadoCash, a cryptocurrency privacy protocol, and now face prison time.

🚨NEW: Some initial confusion over the status of the third count, which the jury could not unanimously decide. But to clarify: @rstormsf has been found guilty on one charge: conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business (aka “the 1960 charge”), which, according to Storm’s lawyer Keri Axel, carries a maximum sentence of five years. The jury was hung on the other two counts: money laundering and sanctions violations. Judge Failla denied the government’s motion to remand him to jail, stating: “There is a lot of fighting left in this case before sentencing, and I think Mr. Storm will stay to fight it.” As the government team exited the courtroom, I asked AUSA Rehn for comment. He seemed caught off guard (may not have realized I was press), stammered, and said: “No comment right now, but we will… yeah…” before walking out the door. Storm remained in the courtroom, conferring with his legal team. His emotions are hard to read as he’s remained pretty stoic throughout this whole trial. I’ll try to get a comment from him as well. Back in again…