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Solana Policy Institute Backs Tornado Cash Devs With $500K Amid Prison Sentences
Solana Policy Institute (SPI) has stepped in with a $500,000 donation to help fund the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, who now face prison sentences after being found guilty on charges linked to the controversial crypto mixer.
Pertsev, who was convicted in the Netherlands in 2024, has already appealed his 64-month prison sentence for allegedly facilitating $1.2 billion in money laundering through Tornado Cash between July 2019 and August 2022. Storm, meanwhile, was found guilty earlier this month in a New York court on a money transmitting charge, though the jury could not reach a verdict on money laundering or sanctions violations. Storm is expected to file post-trial motions in an effort to overturn his conviction.
A Chilling Precedent for Developers
In a blog post, SPI CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine warned that these cases are setting a “chilling precedent” for the entire software development industry.
“If the government can prosecute developers for creating neutral tools that others misuse, it fundamentally changes developers’ risk calculus,” Whitehouse-Levine said. “Why would programmers build groundbreaking software if they might face criminal charges?”
U.S. Shifts Its Tone on Code Writing
Interestingly, the prosecutions come at a time when the Trump administration is signaling a softer stance toward developers. Just last week, Matthew J. Galeotti, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, clarified that “writing code” is not a crime. Whitehouse-Levine emphasized that SPI hopes to see that principle reflected in courtrooms soon.
Crypto Industry Rallies Behind Developers
Beyond financial support, the Solana Policy Institute joined over 100 crypto organizations in signing a letter urging lawmakers to safeguard software developers as regulatory debates around the digital asset industry intensify.
For now, SPI says it will stand firmly behind Storm and Pertsev, while the industry watches closely to see how these landmark cases reshape the future of open-source software development.
