Tornado Cash Developers Receive $500K from Solana Policy Institute to Challenge Convictions

The Solana Policy Institute, a prominent crypto lobbying entity, declared on Thursday its intention to contribute $500,000 for the legal defense of Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev—developers of the Ethereum coin mixing service Tornado Cash, who were convicted of crimes in the U.S. and the Netherlands, respectively.

Storm was found guilty earlier this month in Manhattan for managing an illegal money transmitting business, facing a potential five-year prison sentence. Pertsev was sentenced to over five years in prison last year after a Dutch court convicted him of money laundering.

The legal challenges faced by both Tornado Cash developers have raised concerns within the crypto industry and broader tech communities for years. Advocates have long expressed fears that successful convictions could have significant ramifications for software developers across all fields.

“These prosecutions create a chilling precedent that endangers the software development sector,” stated Miller Whitehouse-Levine, CEO of the Solana Policy Institute, in a blog post announcing the donation. “If the government can prosecute developers for creating neutral tools that are misused, it transforms the risk landscape for developers.”

While the Trump administration has largely adopted a pro-crypto stance since January, the president’s Department of Justice decided to continue pursuing criminal charges against Storm that were initially brought by the Biden administration in 2023.

However, a senior DOJ official indicated last week in front of crypto industry leaders that federal prosecutors would no longer pursue charges against developers of “truly decentralized” software that does not take custody of user funds, even if it is used by criminals for money laundering.

Crypto policy leaders have recently had to navigate a delicate balance between applauding the Trump administration’s pro-crypto actions and cautioning against the risks associated with Storm’s conviction. The true test will be Storm’s appeal, which will clarify if the Trump DOJ has made any genuine shift in attitude regarding decentralized software developers and their liability.

This issue has become increasingly critical to the crypto industry as a whole. On Wednesday, 114 crypto firms and tech lobbying groups—including the Solana Policy Institute—submitted a letter to the Senate Banking Committee warning of collective protest against an upcoming cryptocurrency market structure bill unless it explicitly exonerates decentralized software developers from criminal liability based on the charges used to convict Storm.

This donation also highlights a growing tension within the industry.

Tornado Cash functions on the Ethereum network, and members of the Ethereum community have been vocal in supporting the legal defenses for Storm and Pertsev.

In recent weeks, however, some figures in the industry—most notably, Bitcoin advocate Erik Voorhees, founder of crypto exchange ShapeShift and Venice AI—have questioned whether prominent supporters of Solana, traditionally a competing network to Ethereum, would actively support the Tornado Cash developers in defense of broader crypto principles.

The Solana Policy Institute’s recent donation appears to address that skepticism. However, the organization’s leadership, founded earlier this year, also has deep connections in advocating for software developers in general, as well as specifically for the developers of Tornado Cash in particular.