Harry Halpin, CEO of Nym, a project geared towards privacy protection, recently shared his thoughts on the punishment given to Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev.
Halpin criticized the sentence as “unfair and unreasonable” and compared it to punishing software developers for their users’ actions.
He pointed out that users in North Korea and other countries use commonly used software, such as Linux and Windows, and questioned whether the developers of these programs would also be punished.
Halpin then highlighted the importance of protecting privacy in the 21st century, citing the tragic history of the Netherlands during WWII as an example of the consequences of sophisticated identity tracing systems.
He expressed surprise that the Dutch courts, where Pertsev was sentenced, did not seem to understand this lesson. Pertsev was given a 64-month sentence for his involvement in creating Tornado Cash, a decision that Halpin encouraged him to appeal.
