Key Takeaways
- Dutch authorities have detained a 29-year-old “suspected developer” of Twister Money in Amsterdam.
- The Fiscal Info and Investigation Service revealed a press release saying the detainee is suspected of faciliating cash laundering, including that extra arrests “usually are not dominated out.”
- It follows the Treasury Division’s transfer to sanction the Ethereum mixing protocol this week.
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Dutch authorities have arrested a 29-year-old man they consider was concerned in creating Twister Money.
Suspected Twister Money Developer Detained
The Fiscal Info and Investigation Service has weighed in on the Twister Money saga following the Treasury Division’s unprecedented transfer to sanction the protocol.
The Dutch monetary crime company posted an update Friday confirming it arrested a “suspected developer of Twister Money” in Amsterdam on August 10.
Although FIOD didn’t affirm the suspect’s id, it mentioned {that a} 29-year-old man had been introduced earlier than an inspecting choose. The put up additionally mentioned that he had been detained on suspicion of facilitating cash laundering through Twister Money. An excerpt learn:
“On Wednesday 10 August, the FIOD arrested a 29-year-old man in Amsterdam. He’s suspected of involvement in concealing prison monetary flows and facilitating cash laundering by the blending of cryptocurrencies by the decentralised Ethereum mixing service Twister Money.”
FIOD’s Monetary Superior Cyber Workforce mentioned that it had been investigating Twister Money since June 2022, including that a number of arrests “usually are not dominated out.”
Twister Money is an Ethereum-based protocol that helps customers protect privateness by obfuscating their transaction historical past. It’s one among Ethereum’s hottest protocols because it gives a strategy to transfer cryptocurrencies with out compromising on privateness, one thing that often isn’t doable when transacting between common addresses given the general public nature of blockchain expertise. When somebody makes a deposit to Twister Money, they’ll withdraw their funds from one other handle, making their tracks a lot more durable to hint.
FIOD’s replace comes after the U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Belongings Management added Twister Money and its good contracts to its sanctions checklist on August 8. Like FIOD, the U.S. authorities workplace mentioned that Twister Money had enabled cybercriminals to launder cash. The ban blocks all U.S. residents from accessing the protocol, and it was seen as notable as a result of it marked the primary time the federal government had sanctioned a bit of code.
The crypto group extensively decried the Treasury’s determination this week, and the fallout has been large throughout the house. So far, Circle, GitHub, Alchemy, Infura, and dYdX have all complied with the ban, prompting discussions about centralized weak factors defying crypto’s decentralized ethos.
Disclosure: On the time of writing, the creator of this piece owned ETH and several other different cryptocurrencies.
