Will Samourai Wallet co-founder be pardoned by Trump? Open letter revealed on the first day of imprisonment

Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of the Bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai Wallet, recently shared a prison letter revealing for the first time his first day serving time in a U.S. federal prison. The core developer of this cryptocurrency privacy tool has begun a five-year sentence, and his personal experience has quickly garnered widespread attention within the crypto community and digital rights circles.

In a letter published on The Rage website, Rodriguez recounted the entire process of surrendering himself to the federal prison camp, including searches, medical examinations, and dormitory assignments. The letter was written on his seventh day in prison, just before Christmas, and he admitted that being separated from his family during the holiday was particularly psychologically impactful.

He stated in the letter that his first day in prison was “not comfortable at all, but manageable,” and mentioned that his fellow inmates generally had a friendly attitude, which helped to alleviate some of the stress caused by the unfamiliar environment. Due to the timing of his incarceration, he and his family had to celebrate the holiday early, making the personal cost of his sentence feel more tangible and heavy.

Rodriguez’s incarceration has become one of the core cases in the crypto industry’s discussion of “whether open-source code should bear criminal responsibility.” Privacy advocates point out that this case is similar to the experience of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, and it is intensifying regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. regarding developers of crypto privacy tools. The controversy centers on whether developers should be held criminally liable when third parties use open-source privacy software for illegal activities.

Rodriguez was sentenced on November 19, with prosecutors emphasizing that the case concerns the act of assisting illegal activities itself, not the code expression. However, supporters argue that this law enforcement approach could create a chilling effect on Bitcoin privacy technology, blockchain anonymity tools, and the U.S. open-source software ecosystem. Currently, a petition calling for Rodriguez’s pardon has garnered over 12,000 signatures.

Additionally, U.S. President Donald Trump recently stated that he would “review and consider” the case. Rodriguez subsequently publicly called on the president to pardon him, claiming to be a typical example of the anti-cryptocurrency and anti-innovation enforcement environment. As the case continues to develop, the Samourai Wallet incident may become a pivotal turning point influencing the regulation of crypto privacy tools.