The decision was handed down on Wednesday, May 24, in Den Bosch.
The local court explained that all hearing slots until the end of 2023 have already been filled. Thus, Pertsev’s case will be heard as early as next year.
Lawyers and prosecutors discuss the evidence against the Russian and demand more investigations before the trial.
Lawyers and the state prosecution must decide on the status of Pertsev’s stay in the Netherlands, which expires in July.
The case has caught the attention of software developers because the court’s ruling should set a precedent regarding the guilt or innocence of developers for crimes related to their projects.
“If this is a prosecution based solely on writing code that other people are misusing, then this is a really important case.
Many people write code that other people can use for good or bad,” explains Cindy Cohn, executive director of the digital rights group Electronic Frontiers Foundation.
Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted Tornado Cash, saying the platform was used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
Alexey Pertsev, the developer of the Tornado Cash protocol, was arrested in the Netherlands.
In April, it became known that the Russian will be placed under house arrest pending the outcome of the investigation.
Earlier Tornado Cash users sued the U.S. Treasury Department for imposing sanctions on the service, claiming: the ban of open source software violates the U.S. Constitution.