The many years of federal case against the founders of the privacy-oriented Samourai wallet takes an important turn.
Summary
- Samourai portion founders to argue guilty of money laundering.
- The outcome of the case can influence the ongoing Tornado -Contant test.
- The co-founders are confronted with a maximum of 25 years in prison if they are convicted.
According to the court archiving Dated July 29, co-founders of Samourai portion Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill will formally owe guilty in their money laundering. The two were arrested in April 2024, after the US Department of Justice accused them of managing a money without a permit and to facilitate more than $ 100 million in illegal transactions.
Prosecutors claim that the founders have positioned Samourai as a “safe haven” for mixing crypto transactions, inviting and enabling illegal actors to use the platform to avoid sanctions. After their indictment, both men did not argue and pushed back, which claimed that the case missed legal grounds.
For a while it seemed that the tide could become their advantage. Earlier this year, the defense revealed that Fincen had established Privé that Samourai had not paid the definition of a money transmitter and the DOJ accused of suppressing the evidence. That revelation led to speculation that the charges could be completely withdrawn.
However, happiness did not last long and both founders are now staring behind bars for 25 years when they are convicted. In addition to the potential prison sentence, the culprit pleeked bees also have weight for another controversial case that is still taking place.
How this affects the struggle of Tornado Cash
Roman Storm, the co-founder of Ethereum-based mixer Tornado Cash, is currently tried for similar costs. The DOJ accused Storm and his co-developers to make money laundering possible through smart contracts of Tornado, some of which were later linked to North Korean hackers and sanctioned entities.
One of the co-founders of Storm, Alexey Pertev, has already been convicted by a Dutch court. Storm, however, maintains its innocence and continues to fight the charges.
Now that the founders of Samourai are preparing to argue guilty, the pressure is that the case could create a potentially precedent that public prosecutors can now tend to be in the Tornado case, especially because both projects are confronted with almost identical allegations regarding privacy technology and their use by illegal actors.
Nevertheless, the industrial members gather to support both companies.
War against privacy?
Various industrial figures, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have long defended both Samourai wallet and Tornado-Contant, with the argument that writing code should not be dealt with as a crime. Many have emphasized that privacy is of fundamental importance for industry and that the teams should not be held responsible for how bad actors use their tools.
News about the approaching culprit pleeked prayers ruled the debate. On x, one user warned That the outcome could be a dangerous precedent that intimidates future developers and suppresses innovation.
The culprit pleekeds of the Samourai Wallet Founders are now planned for Wednesday, July 30, 2025 in the US district court for the southern district of New York.
