The founders of Samourai Wallet have reversed their previous stance and will now plead guilty in their ongoing cryptocurrency case. This development marks a significant turn in the legal proceedings against the privacy-focused crypto mixing service.
The privacy advocates and the crypto community have been rattled by the landmark criminal case in which the founders of the Bitcoin mixing platform Samourai Wallet will plead guilty.
During a hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning before Judge Denise Cote, CEO Keonne Rodriguez and chief technology officer William Lonergan Hill will modify their admissions, according to court documents filed on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.
In April 2024, the duo had previously entered a plea of not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Links to Indictments Wallet’s Integration of Tools for Silk Road and Other Criminal Activities
Prosecutors accused Samourai of processing over $2 billion in illegal transactions, which included payments associated with the Silk Road marketplace that has since been defunct.
The Department of Justice asserted that the wallet’s popular mixing services, Whirlpool and Ricochet, were actively marketed to offenders. According to the indictment, Hill described a focus on the “black/grey circular economy” in private communications.
Bitcoin and other coin mixers combine transactions from multiple users, rendering them more difficult to trace on public blockchains. Privacy advocates regard them as essential instruments for financial anonymity, while US authorities regard them as magnets for illicit activity.
The Treasury Department prohibited Americans from utilizing the Ethereum-based intermediary Tornado Cash in 2022, citing its affiliation with criminal organizations.
Privacy Advocates Fear Precedent From High-Profile Mixer Prosecutions
Actions against other privacy tools, including Tornado Cash and Bitcoin Fog, are mirrored in the Samourai case. Roman Storm, a co-founder of Tornado Cash, is anticipating a verdict this week, while the founder of Bitcoin Fog was convicted last year.
Critics contend that these prosecutions threaten the open-source developers responsible for non-custodial software, despite the absence of direct evidence of criminal intent.
Rodriguez and Hill were apprehended in 2024, just before the closure of Samourai Wallet by federal agents. Prosecutors claimed the founders earned $4.5 million in fees from the mixing services while facilitating money laundering from phishing schemes and other crimes. The combined prison sentence for the charges is 25 years.
Defense Tried to Dismiss Case Citing DOJ Memo on Crypto Mixers
In April 2025, both parties requested that the proceedings be postponed. This was due to a memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which recommended that prosecutors refrain from prosecuting crypto mixer operators for “unwitting violations.”
The defense also contended that Samourai’s non-custodial design was consistent with the 2019 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network guidance, which exempts anonymizing software providers from money transmitter rules.
Arguments regarding the dismissal motion were scheduled for July 22 by the court. Nevertheless, that endeavor was unsuccessful. Furthermore, allegations that prosecutors had concealed exculpatory evidence were also disproven. Consequently, a trial date was established for November 3.
Judge Cote has not yet provided a detailed explanation of the potential impact of the plea change on the sentencing process. The utmost penalty for conspiracy to commit money laundering is 20 years in prison, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business can add five years.
