The plot thickens. Did the supposed Tornado Cash <\/span>developer arrested in The Netherlands<\/span><\/a> have ties to a Russian safety company? Is a job in 2017 for an organization with tenuous connections to Russia sufficient to justify the arrest? As <\/span>Bitcoinist told you<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>reiterated<\/span><\/a>, there needed to be one more reason that FIOD and the OFAC arrested a easy Tornado Cash coder. Is this one it? We don\u2019t have official affirmation but, but it surely may be.<\/span><\/p>\n Apparently, the alleged Tornado Cash developer was Aleksey Pertsev, CEO of PepperSec and resident of The Netherlands. The details about his supposed ties to Russian intelligence <\/span>comes courtesy of Kharon<\/span><\/a>. The firm \u201cprovides data and analytic tools to optimize the core functions of financial crimes compliance programs, including KYC, screening, and investigations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Their report states that Tornado Cash \u201cruns on software code developed by PepperSec, Inc.\u201d What and the place is that firm precisely?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPepperSec is a Delaware-registered corporation with its primary place of business in Seattle, Washington, according to a 2020 SEC filing. PepperSec\u2019s website describes the company as a security consulting firm of white hat hackers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Currently, <\/span>the website in question contains an \u201cAbout Us\u201d<\/span><\/a> that claims:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re professional security engineers seasoned by many years of practical experience and deep understanding of technologies. We\u2019re ready to battle to make your project as secure as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Fair sufficient, however\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Apparently, Kharon reviewed \u201cpersonal and company profiles\u201d and decided that Aleksey is PepperSec\u2019s CEO. So far, so good. Where\u2019s the smoking gun, although? Back to Kharon\u2019s report:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn 2017, Pertsev was an information security specialist and developer of smart contracts for Digital Security OOO, according to an archived version of the company\u2019s website reviewed by Kharon. Digital Security OOO is a Russian entity <\/span>designated<\/span><\/a> by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018 for providing material and technological support to the FSB, Russia\u2019s primary security agency. Treasury alleged that, as of 2015, Digital Security worked on a project that would increase the offensive cyber capabilities of Russia\u2019s intelligence services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n That\u2019s tenuous, to say the least. And under no circumstances associated to Tornado Cash. However, a caveat is that the opposite two \u201cPepperSec\u2019s founders \u2014 U.S.-based Roman Storm and Russia-based Roman Semenov\u201d haven\u2019t been touched. So far. So, the case may be towards Aleksey Pertsev alone.<\/span><\/p>\n For this half, we\u2019ll flip to quotes from <\/span>notorious bitcoin enemy<\/span><\/a> \u201cFortune.\u201d The <\/span>magazine interviewed<\/span><\/a> Nick Grothaus, vice chairman of analysis at Kharon, who mentioned:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou had this guy working for [Digital Security OOO] and doing pen testing himself, and then Treasury designated the company for helping the FSB\u2019s hacking capabilities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Ok, we didn\u2019t know concerning the \u201cpen testing\u201d half. However, how does this relate to Tornado Cash? To reply that query the journal resorts to Alex Zerden, \u201can adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security,\u201d who mentioned:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis opens up a lot of credibility issues for the developers of Tornado Cash. This is pretty profound information that informs why the U.S. government and Dutch authorities have taken certain actions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Does it, although? \u201cThere seems to be a more complex and complicated picture that takes more time to unravel,\u201d Zerden added. And we agree. That\u2019s why <\/span>the EFF asked for clarity<\/span><\/a> across the Tornado Cash scenario. As <\/span>Bitcoinist already said<\/span><\/a>, \u201cmaybe the OFAC has a better case and the developer is guilty of something else. If that\u2019s the case, with \u201cclarifying information and reducing the ambiguity\u201d the OFAC would have prevented this entire scenario.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHow Are PepperSec And Tornado Cash Related?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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How Is PepperSec Connected To Russia?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nETH value chart for 08\/26\/2022 on FTX | Source: ETH\/USD on TradingView.com<\/a><\/pre>\n
How Does All Of This Relate To Tornado Cash?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Featured Image: Graphic twister from this blog post<\/a> | Charts by TradingView<\/a><\/pre>\n
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