Keonne Rodriguez

Last updated
Keonne Rodriguez
Occupation software developer
Known forCo-founder of Samourai Wallet
Criminal penaltyPending sentencing
Website freesamourai.com

Keonne Rodriguez is an American software developer and co-founder of Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin wallet designed to enhance transaction privacy for Bitcoin users. In 2024, Rodriguez and fellow co-founder William Lonergan Hill were arrested and later plead guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business for creating the software for the application. [1] [2] [3] His prosecution drew criticism from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups, who argued that the case threatened financial privacy, open source development, and the principle of code as speech. [2] [4]

Contents

Background

In 2015, Rodriguez co-founded Samourai wallet as a non-custodial wallet that enabled privacy for on-chain bitcoin transactions through features such as Whirlpool, a coin-mixing service that mixes one bitcoin transactions with other transactions. [5] [2] In explaining how the service worked, Rodriguez stated, "I think the best analogy for it is like smelting gold. You take your bitcoin, you add it into [the conjoin protocol] Whirlpool, and Whirlpool smelts it into new pieces that are not associated to the original piece." [6]

On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrests of Rodriguez and Hill. [7] Prosecutors of the Southern District of New York alleged that the creation of Samourai wallet source code constituted the operation of an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to commit money laundering. [3] They alleged that by allowing users to conceal $2 billion in bitcoin transactions, Rodriguez and Hill were engaging in criminal activity. The DOJ claims that $100 million in illicit funds were laundered through the service. [8]

In July 2025, Rodriguez and Hill plead guilty to the charges. [9] Rodriguez' sentencing was scheduled for November 2025. [10]

Reactions to prosecution

Privacy advocates have denounced Rodriguez' federal prosecution, stating that Samourai wallet protects its users' financial privacy, which they regard as a fundamental human right. Critics of the prosecution assert that financial privacy is essential to protect against state surveillance and control of financial transactions and other personal activities. [4] Supporters of Rodriguez also hold that the creation and publication of Samourai's source code are forms of protected speech under the "code as speech" doctrine, established by Bernstein v. United States , emphasizing that Rodriguez merely wrote and distributed computer code. [2] The Cato Institute argued that this prosecution could have a chilling effect on "cryptocurrency defenders, human rights activists, privacy defenders, and software developers," noting that this has already spurred Wasabi Wallet to block U.S. users and led to the removal of Phoenix Wallet from American app stores. [11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Machina®, Lex. "Samourai Wallet Execs Cop To Money-Transmitting Charges - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Book, Joakim (2024-05-01). "Groundhog Day for the crypto wars: The DOJ on bitcoin prowl". Reason.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  3. 1 2 Kim, Crystal (2024-04-24). "Samourai Wallet founders arrested as part of federal crackdown on crypto mixing". Axios. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  4. 1 2 Ward, Susie Violet. "DOJ Arrests Bitcoin Wallet Founders Amid Cash-Like Privacy Concerns". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  5. ↑ "Southern District of New York | Founders Of Samourai Wallet Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Plead Guilty | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2025-08-06. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  6. ↑ Staff, AOL. "The Government Fears This Privacy Tool". Archived from the original on 2025-10-28. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  7. ↑ Sun, Mengqi (2024-04-24). "Crypto Mixer Samourai Wallet's Co-founders Arrested for Money Laundering". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  8. ↑ "Samourai Wallet laundered more than previously alleged, new US indictment says | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation". www.mlex.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  9. ↑ Machina®, Lex. "Samourai Wallet Execs Cop To Money-Transmitting Charges - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  10. ↑ Ligon, Cheyenne (July 30, 2025). "Samourai Wallet Devs Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Run Unlicensed Money Transmitter". Yahoo! Finance.
  11. ↑ Anthony, Nicholas (April 30, 2024). "Samourai Charges Mark Chilling Moment for Financial Privacy". www.cato.org. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
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