The Solana Policy Institute (SPI), a prominent crypto lobbying organization, has pledged $500,000 to the legal defense fund for Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, the developers of Tornado Cash. This contribution aims to support Storm's post-trial motions seeking to overturn his conviction and Pertsev's appeal.
Roman Storm was found guilty on August 6, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, on one felony count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The jury, however, could not reach a verdict on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions. He potentially faces up to five years in prison for the conviction. Alexey Pertsev was convicted on money laundering charges in the Netherlands in 2022 and received a sentence exceeding five years.
Tornado Cash is a decentralized privacy service that obscures the source and recipient of cryptocurrency transactions. It operates as an open-source protocol, utilizing smart contracts to facilitate anonymous transactions. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022, alleging that it had been used to launder $7 billion since 2019, including funds by the North Korean Lazarus Group.
The Solana Policy Institute's donation highlights the ongoing debate surrounding crypto privacy tools and the legal liabilities of developers. Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the Solana Policy Institute, stated that the prosecutions set a "chilling precedent that threatens the software development industry". The institute argues that developers should not be held criminally liable for neutral, open-source tools they no longer control after launch. They emphasize that prosecuting developers for code misuse could deter innovation in the software industry.
The cases against Storm and Pertsev have sparked considerable concern within the crypto and tech sectors. Supporters of Tornado Cash argue that it provides crucial privacy for various users, including high-net-worth individuals and activists. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EF) has also pledged $500,000 to Storm's legal defense and will match up to an additional $750,000 in community donations. The "Free Roman Storm" defense fund has raised $5.5 million through community fundraising to aid in his legal defense.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would cease prosecuting developers of DeFi applications under the statute concerning the operation of unlicensed money transmission businesses. This announcement came weeks after Storm's conviction. The DOJ will not file charges if the software is genuinely decentralized, automates peer-to-peer transactions, and does not allow developers access to user funds. However, this policy is not retroactive and will not affect Storm's sentence.
The Solana Policy Institute's contribution to Storm's defense fund comes amid debates about the role of privacy in crypto and the responsibility of developers for the use of their code. The institute hopes that their contribution will aid in Storm's appeal and contribute to a more balanced legal landscape for crypto developers.
