Tornado Cash trial: the end of the illusion of decentralisation

17.05.2024
Tornado Cash trial: the end of the illusion of decentralisation
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Lawyer William O'Rorke (ORWL) looks back at the consequences of the Tornado Cash trial, which resulted in the conviction of developer Alexey Pertsev. Tribune.

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William O'Rorke

William O'Rorke is a Partner at ORWL Avocats, where he leads the regulatory practice, focusing on crypto-asset regulation. He has advised clients in the crypto-finance sector for nearly a decade, with a practice centred on MiCA, MiFID, and DORA. His client base includes crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), payment and e-money institutions issuing stablecoins, banks, asset managers, and technology providers such as SaaS platforms, custodians-as-a-service, DeFi protocols, and layer-1/2 foundations. He co-founded ORWL Avocats, which was established in 2018.

O'Rorke co-authored Droit des crypto-actifs, published by LexisNexis, described as the reference textbook in the field. He lectures at the Paris Bar School (EFB) and at several master's programmes, and has taught at institutions including La Sorbonne, Assas, HEC, and Polytechnique. His team has been ranked "Highly Recommended" by Leaders League for four consecutive years and is listed in Chambers & Partners' FinTech rankings at Band 4. Separately, he serves as Board Member and Secretary of ADAN, a nonprofit representing Web3 actors in France and Europe, where he contributes to EU-level discussions on crypto regulation. He has also participated in working groups with Medef, France Stratégie, and Finance Innovation. He studied at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

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