Solana Policy Institute donates $500,000 to support the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers

ChainCatcher news, the Solana Policy Institute announced a donation of $500,000 to the legal defense fund of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. The two were convicted in connection with a cryptocurrency mixer case and are facing prison sentences. Pertsev had previously been sentenced to 64 months in prison in the Netherlands for assisting in the laundering of $1.2 billion, while Storm was convicted this month in New York for unlicensed money transmission, but the jury did not reach a consensus on the money laundering and sanctions charges.

Solana Policy Institute CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine stated that if developers are prosecuted for the misuse of neutral tools by others, it will have a chilling effect on the software development industry. The institute also co-signed an open letter with over a hundred cryptocurrency companies, urging lawmakers to protect developers' rights within the regulatory framework.