President Donald Trump said he’ll review the case of Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of Samourai Wallet, as questions mount over the federal conviction of the Bitcoin privacy software developer.
When asked about Rodriguez’s upcoming prison sentence, Trump said, “I’ve heard about it. I’ll look at it.”
“I don’t know anything about it,” President Trump said. “But we’ll take a look.”
Rodriguez publicly acknowledged Trump’s sentiment, tweeting “Your continued noise is working. Thank you to everyone pushing @realDonaldTrump to pardon Bill and me. Let’s get this over the line. #pardonsamourai”
Rodriguez, along with co-founder William “Bill” Hill, was convicted of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, a charge stemming from Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin privacy tool that allowed users to mix coins and maintain financial anonymity without giving up custody of their funds.
Details of the Samourai Wallet case
The case, which began under the Biden administration and continued through the Trump Justice Department, culminated in Rodriguez receiving a five-year sentence and Hill four years, though Hill’s age and recent autism diagnosis led to a reduced sentence.
Critics of the prosecution argue the case represents a dangerous precedent for the cryptocurrency industry. The U.S. Department of Justice claimed that Samourai Wallet facilitated over $2 billion in unlawful transactions and laundered more than $100 million from criminal sources. However, only the “unlicensed money transmission” charge survived a high-profile trial, raising questions about the strength of the case.
Samourai Wallet’s mixing services, Whirlpool and Ricochet, were designed to obscure the origin of criminal proceeds from activities including drug trafficking, darknet marketplaces, fraud, cybercrime, and murder-for-hire operations.
Court documents reveal the developers actively encouraged criminal use, describing the service as “money laundering for bitcoin” and promoting its tools on darknet forums.
The Department of Justice framed the case as part of a broader crackdown on crypto mixing services. Rodriguez had requested a light sentence, but the court imposed the statutory five-year maximum.
Trump’s comments come amid his campaign promises to defend the right to self-custody and financial privacy. During the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, he pledged to end what he described as the “anti-crypto crusade” of the prior administration.
A pardon for Rodriguez and Hill would signal a clear commitment to those promises, protecting developers from legal exposure for building tools that enhance privacy and security for everyday Americans.
With Rodriguez set to report to prison on December 18 and Hill already sentenced, the Trump administration faces a high-profile decision that could shape the future of financial privacy, software development, and cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.
