Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev is set to be released from Dutch prison as he fights his money laundering conviction, though he will remain under strict electronic monitoring. A Dutch court ruled on Feb. 6 to suspend his pretrial detention, allowing him to work on his appeal.

Pertsev, who has been in custody since August 2022, emphasized that his release does not equate to full freedom. "This will give me a chance to work on my appeal and fight for justice," he stated on X. His release is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 9 a.m. UTC.

The developer was found guilty of money laundering in May 2024 and sentenced to over five years in prison. Prosecutors argued that he and other Tornado Cash co-founders should have implemented stronger safeguards against criminal misuse of their crypto-mixing protocol. Pertsev, however, maintained that he should not be held accountable for how others used the open-source tool.

His case is part of a larger crackdown on Tornado Cash. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the protocol in 2022, citing its alleged role in laundering over $1 billion in crypto. Co-founder Roman Storm faces trial in April, while fellow co-founder Roman Semenov remains on the FBI’s most-wanted list.

Storm has warned that prosecuting developers for writing privacy-focused code could have dangerous implications for the entire crypto industry. His case, along with Pertsev’s, is widely seen as a pivotal legal battle that could shape the future of crypto development and digital privacy.