The first time a developer of open source, non-custodial and autonomous smart contract code has been arrested comes days after the US sanctions the same smart contract.
It says in the article that the person has benefited financially from this. It's not about making open source, I don't know why people are raising that red herring. Implementing a mixer is (probably) not illegal in The Netherlands, putting one in production and setting it up in such a way that you benefit from it absolutely is.
I don't believe it's a coincidence that the sanctions and the arrest happened close together, there's likely some coordination there. But it's really unlikely the sanctions somehow are relevant in this case.
> first time a developer of open source, non-custodial and autonomous smart contract code has been arrested comes days after the US sanctions the same smart contract. Probably just a coincidence
Zero chance this is solely on account of U.S. sanctions. It takes time to build an arrest case under domestic law, as well as for sanctions to percolate across legal systems.
There was likely coördination. Maybe the Dutch waited, to bolster their arrest case. Maybe the evidence that Tornado was used to launder money processed under similar time frames at OFAC and the FIOD.
I often wonder if people are aware that the US is basically a one world government. You cannot run. If you believe you are innocent, and you run to any other "somewhat free" country, they will send you right back to get railroaded through the "justice" system. If you do something outside the real jurisdiction of the US, they will find a way to put you in their jurisdiction.
The US has significant control over European countries. They're nearly vassal states to a degree.
I don't believe it's a coincidence that the sanctions and the arrest happened close together, there's likely some coordination there. But it's really unlikely the sanctions somehow are relevant in this case.