Overview
- Trump acknowledged the case during an Oval Office exchange and said he would look at a potential pardon for Rodriguez.
- Rodriguez and fellow co-founder William “Bill” Hill pleaded guilty this year to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business; Hill received a four-year sentence.
- The Justice Department alleged Samourai’s tools processed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions and more than $100 million from criminal sources, though only the money-transmission charge led to conviction.
- The prosecution continued under the Trump DOJ despite internal guidance earlier this year to scale back cases targeting crypto privacy software developers.
- Privacy advocates and crypto policy groups say the case has chilled development of privacy-preserving tools in the United States.