Dutch authorities arrested an unnamed 29-year-old man suspected of being a Tornado Cash developer in Amsterdam on August 10.
According to a press statement released by the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service on August 12, the man is suspected of involvement in concealing criminal financial flows and facilitating money laundering through the mixing of cryptocurrencies through the decentralized criptocurrency mixing service, Tornado Cash. The crime agency said in June that it started a criminal investigation into Tornado Cash because it suspected that the protocol was being used to conceal large-scale criminal money flows, including from online thefts of cryptocurrencies, so-called criptocurrency hacks and scams.
On August 8, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash, leading to widespread condemnation from the community. Users of Circle and dYdX have been blocked from using the coin mixer.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the government would continue to tighten restrictions on the use of criptomixes that are being used by criminals to launder funds.