Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, the co-founders of privacy-focused Samourai Wallet, are facing a dramatic turn in their legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice. According to court filings dated July 29, both men are set to plead guilty to money laundering charges in a case that could significantly impact the future of privacy tools in the crypto space.
š¹ The charges stem from allegedly operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and facilitating illegal transactions totaling more than $100 million. Prosecutors argue that Samourai Wallet was marketed as a āsafe havenā for anonymous crypto activityāattracting illicit actors seeking to bypass sanctions.
A Brief Hope: FinCEN vs DOJ
Earlier this year, their defense team revealed that FinCEN, the U.S. financial crimes watchdog, had privately ruled that Samourai Wallet did not qualify as a money transmitter. They also accused the DOJ of suppressing critical evidence, giving hope that the case might be dismissed entirely.
However, that hope was short-lived. If convicted, Rodriguez and Hill face up to 25 years in prison. And their guilty plea could have far-reaching consequences.
Ripple Effect: Tornado Cash Feels the Heat
The development adds new pressure to another high-profile caseāthat of Roman Storm, co-founder of Ethereum-based mixing service Tornado Cash. Storm faces similar charges related to smart contracts allegedly used by North Korean hackers and sanctioned entities.
His associate, Alexey Pertsev, has already been convicted in the Netherlands, but Storm maintains his innocence. Now, with Samouraiās founders preparing to plead guilty, prosecutors may lean on that outcome as precedent for their case against Tornado Cash, especially given the nearly identical privacy-related allegations.
A War on Code?
Voices across the crypto industry, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have long defended both Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash, arguing that writing code should not be a crime.
Many in the community stress that privacy is a core principle of blockchain, and developers should not be held liable for how criminals misuse open-source tools.
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