Former U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged the case of Keonne Rodriguez, developer of the Bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai Wallet, stating he will "look into" the possibility of granting a pardon. He has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the request.
Rodriguez was convicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for illegal money transmission due to his work on Samourai Wallet. Last month, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison and is scheduled to report for incarceration this Friday.
01 Presidential Intervention
Trump’s involvement in the Samourai Wallet developer’s case follows ongoing appeals from the crypto community. In his statement, he used the term "look into" and instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review the pardon request.
On December 2, the Bitcoin Policy Institute released a detailed report advocating for a pardon, arguing that the case represents a misapplication of federal money transmission laws.
The Institute emphasized that non-custodial tools do not fall under the Bank Secrecy Act’s money transmitter framework. Treating Samourai’s developers as money transmitters erases the long-standing legal distinction between software publishers and financial intermediaries.
02 Case Review
Samourai Wallet is a Bitcoin wallet focused on privacy, built around two core features: "Whirlpool" and "Ricochet."
"Whirlpool" uses CoinJoin technology to mix bitcoins from different users, making it difficult to trace the original source of any specific bitcoin. "Ricochet" adds extra steps between sending and receiving addresses, further obfuscating the flow of funds.
Between 2017 and 2024, over 80,000 bitcoins were transacted through these services, valued at more than $200 million at the time.
03 Legal Controversy
The U.S. Department of Justice accused Samourai Wallet of facilitating over $237 million
