The Clock Runs Out
Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of the Bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai, is scheduled to report to federal prison today, December 19, to begin a five-year sentence. But a potential lifeline emerged from the Oval Office late Monday. responding to a direct question about Rodriguez’s case, President-elect Donald Trump told reporters, “I’ve heard about it. I’ll look at it.”
Trump explicitly instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to examine the file, adding, “I don’t know anything about it, but we’ll take a look.” The comments have ignited a firestorm of speculation across X (formerly Twitter), where the “#PardonSamourai” campaign has framed the prosecution as the final act of “Biden-era lawfare” against crypto developers.
The “Lawfare” Plea
Rodriguez pled guilty in July to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, a strategic move to avoid a potential 20-year sentence for money laundering. His legal team, and a loud contingent of privacy advocates, argue that Samourai Wallet was non-custodial software, meaning the developers never held user funds. Under previous FinCEN guidance, they claim, this should not constitute “money transmission.”
“If he looks at our case closely it will be a case of deja vu, and I think he would do the right thing,” Rodriguez wrote, alleging the DOJ “weaponized” statutes to hunt political rivals.
The prosecution, however, successfully argued that Samourai’s “Whirlpool” mixing service facilitated over $2 billion in illicit volume, including proceeds from dark web markets. Rodriguez received the statutory maximum of five years; his co-founder William Hill received four.
Developer Liability on Trial
The stakes extend far beyond Rodriguez. The conviction sets a kinetic precedent: writing open-source privacy code can now yield prison time if the tool is used by bad actors, even if the developer never touches the money. This mirrors the Tornado Cash prosecution, creating a chilling effect for US-based cryptographers.
Bitcoin (BTC) remained unfazed by the privacy crackdown, holding steady at $90,200 (+0.1%) as the market prices in a friendlier regulatory regime under the incoming administration. For Rodriguez, however, the regime change may come hours too late unless a pardon arrives before he surrenders to FPC Morgantown.
