The Solana Policy Institute, a nonprofit Solana Advocacy Group, has pledged $ 500,000 to the legal defense of the Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, adding to growing financial support from the crypto community.
The storm was found to be guilty of The operation of an unlicensed business that sends money On August 6, while Pertsev was found guilty of 2024 of the money laundering related to the formation Tornado Cash, a protocol Allows users to mask the source and destination of their crypto.
The Solana Policy Institute Says In a statement on Thursday that the $ 500,000 donation would help the STORM (which was in the post-trial motion seeking to overthrow his convincing) and Pertsev’s appeal.
By gathering the community, the Free Roman Storm Fund has lifted $ 5.5 million to help his legal defense, about $ 1.5 million away from its goal.
Ethereum’s heavyweights go out
In a call for support back in July, storm Question In an X statement for $ 1.5 million to help mounted legal costs.
Ethereum core developer Federico Carrone said he would contribute $ 500,000 On August 11, after that he Turkish authorities restrained In the alleged links to a protocol on Ethereum privacy.
The Ethereum Foundation also Promised to match $ 500,000 Donations on Storm’s defense fund following his conviction.
The foundation gave $ 500,000 in June and pledged to match an additional $ 750,000 in donations from the crypto community.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Blerin also contributed to the cause, with two donations covering 150 ether, worth more than $ 673,000 at current prices.
Other community members have ddonated the cause of the storm
In July, Bill Warren, a developer and contributed to Meta Cartel Dao, Says The entire group of the group, an unspecified value, is that it has been cleared to support the legal cause of the storm.
Julian Zawistowski, founder of the Golem Project, confirmed That his team donated 50 ether in July as well, costing more than $ 224,000 at the current prices.
Another massive donation came from the paradigm firm, which promised $ 1.25 million in January, with co-founder Matt Huang saying At this time, “Having a software developers’ responsibility for how third parties use the product will have a chilling effect in crypto and more.”
Storm case changes the “risk calculus” by the developers “
Legal professionals and observers in the industry have Condemning the beliefs of TondDao cash developers, who are focusing that it sets a dangerous preceding for open-source developers and has implications for user privacy.
Related: Privacy is not a luxury in crypto, it is a necessity – midnight CEO
After its donation, the Solana Policy Institute argued that the allegations behind the beliefs were based on a misunderstanding of how blockchain technology works.
“Government logic is simple but dangerous: whether you write an open resource code that anyone can use-for good or for illness-responsible for misuse of it-even without continuous control, or ability to control, the code on the issue,” they said.
“If the government could persecute the developers for the creation of neutral tools used by others, it initially changes the calculus of the risk of developers.”
The Blockchain Association, a lobby group of the crypto industry in Washington, made a similar statement after the storm was convicted, and Says The ruling “sets a dangerous precedent for open-source software developers.”
Magazine: Can privacy in US crypto policy live after convincing Roman Storm?
