Senior Bitcoin developer Jon Atack was arrested in El Salvador over the weekend following a dispute with a neighbor, sparking a web-based flurry of concern earlier than he was freed about an hour later.
Atack, who contributes to Bitcoin Core, posted on microblogging platform X that police confiscated his phone and passport, chopping him off from the surface world and fueling fears in crypto circles.
Legislation enforcement initially instructed him he might be despatched to a close-by jail, although he prevented that final result.
The altercation seems tied to a disagreement over property points relatively than Atack’s crypto work. Stacy Herbert, director of El Salvador’s Nationwide Bitcoin Workplace and a vocal supporter of President Nayib Bukele, stated Atack’s neighbor accused him of “violence towards girls.”
Underneath El Salvador’s 2012 legislation generally known as Vida Libre de Violencia para las Mujeres (LEIV), which immediately interprets to “life free from violence for ladies,” violent speech and threats towards girls are prison offenses.
Atack was launched inside minutes after being handcuffed, describing the officers as “skilled and pleasant.” He thanked supporters on-line, saying, “This was the primary time I’ve been in cuffs and God keen additionally the final time.”