- Solana Coverage Institute donated $500K to assist Twister Money builders Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev in ongoing authorized battles.
- Storm faces as much as 5 years in U.S. jail after a partial conviction, whereas Pertsev appeals a five-year Dutch sentence.
- Crypto teams together with Solana and Ethereum are uniting to defend open-source builders and push for authorized protections.
The Solana Coverage Institute has stepped into some of the controversial authorized battles in crypto, pledging $500,000 to assist Twister Money builders battle their instances in U.S. and European courts. Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, the 2 builders behind the Ethereum-based privateness software, stay underneath hearth for constructing open-source software program that governments declare was misused by sanctioned teams. For a lot of, the case isn’t nearly Twister Money—it’s about whether or not coding itself could be criminalized.
This pledge from Solana joins earlier donations from the Ethereum Basis and others, bringing the highlight again on crypto’s fragile steadiness between privateness, decentralization, and regulatory management. It additionally alerts a uncommon second of unity throughout rival chains, with the trade rallying behind builders whose work is now seen as a litmus check for open-source freedom.
Roman Storm Faces U.S. Jail Time as DOJ Considers Retrial
In Manhattan, Roman Storm was convicted of working an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise tied to Twister Money. The jury discovered him responsible on one depend, leaving him going through as much as 5 years in federal jail. Two different expenses—cash laundering conspiracy and sanctions violations—led to a hung jury, however the Division of Justice hasn’t dominated out a retrial. Which means Storm’s authorized ordeal might drag on for much longer.
Storm has stated he wants $3.5 million for his authorized protection however has raised simply over half of that up to now. Donations from teams like Solana’s coverage arm intention to shut this hole and hold him within the battle. The case has already drawn outrage throughout the crypto world, with many arguing that punishing builders for writing code—fairly than instantly dealing with person funds—units a harmful precedent.
Pertsev’s Dutch Conviction Provides International Strain to Privateness Debate
On the opposite aspect of the Atlantic, Dutch developer Alexey Pertsev continues to battle a five-year sentence after being convicted of cash laundering in 2022. His arrest and trial centered on Twister Money’s alleged use by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Although no proof confirmed Pertsev meant to allow crime, prosecutors efficiently tied the software’s neutrality to illicit exercise. Pertsev stays underneath digital monitoring whereas his attraction strikes ahead.
His conviction got here proper after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Twister Money, a transfer that was overturned in 2025 after a civil court docket problem. However the Dutch ruling nonetheless stands, leaving Pertsev in limbo whereas worldwide debate rages over whether or not builders ought to bear accountability for a way decentralized instruments are used.
Solana Coverage Institute Joins Push for Developer Protections
Created in 2025, the Solana Coverage Institute is already making headlines by pushing for authorized reform that shields builders from legal responsibility once they construct impartial software program. Its donation to Twister Money’s protection fund is each symbolic and sensible—it exhibits that even rival ecosystems acknowledge the stakes on this case.
The institute additionally joined greater than 100 organizations in sending a letter to the Senate Banking Committee, urging lawmakers to carve out protections for decentralized builders in upcoming crypto laws. Their message was blunt: if legal guidelines don’t change, innovation might be stifled, and open-source contributors might imagine twice earlier than delivery code.
Twister Money has grow to be greater than a courtroom story—it’s the flashpoint for crypto’s identification. The best way courts and lawmakers deal with Storm and Pertsev will form not simply privateness instruments however the way forward for decentralized improvement itself.