Samourai Wallet Co-Founders Arrested on Money Laundering Charges

The US Department of Justice has apprehended the co-founders of Samourai Wallet on accusations of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transfer business.

Samourai Wallet's CEO, Keonne Rodriguez, and Chief Technology Officer, William Lonergan Hull, allegedly facilitated $2 billion in illicit transactions. They also face charges of laundering funds on the dark web.

Today, the #FBI, IRS, and partners apprehended the founders of the Samourai Wallet cryptocurrency service, which permitted criminals to launder over $1.7B in funds. Read more about FBI Cyber's ongoing mission to terminate fraudulent crypto services. https://t.co/zUBgiSLhjP
— FBI (@FBI) April 24, 2024

According to the indictment, the pair "knowingly facilitated the laundering of over $100 million in criminal proceeds from Silk Road, Hydra Market, and a multitude of other computer hacking and fraud schemes."

The prosecution additionally cites "Whirlpool," a crypto-mixing service provided by Samourai. It alleges that the duo solicited criminals to launder money on the platform via a private message on X (Twitter).

Rodriguez has been arrested in the US and is scheduled to appear before a Pennsylvanian judge. The US government is also seeking the extradition of Hull, who was apprehended in Portugal. The Samourai Wallet app has been removed from the Google Play Store.

Crypto Market Declines

The news of the Samourai Wallet co-founders' arrest sparked market volatility, resulting in price drops for Bitcoin and numerous altcoins.

BTC has decreased by 3.78% over the past 24 hours, trading at $63,971 as of 08:19 EST. Ether, the largest altcoin, has also experienced a 4.61% price decline, currently trading at $3,128.

DOGE, the leading memecoin, has witnessed a 7.5% price drop, while PEPE has declined by almost 5% and WIF has plummeted by over 15%.

Coinglass reports that the price decline has led to the liquidation of $208 million worth of long positions from the crypto market within the last 24 hours.

Some members of the crypto community have criticized the arrests, arguing that the two developers could face imprisonment merely for writing code.

The developers of Samourai were arrested this morning.
One extradited from Portugal.
Samourai is a bitcoin wallet that makes bitcoin private.
These developers face up to 25 yrs in prison for writing code.
The US is sending a message.
No transaction will be private. pic.twitter.com/GupLtMuHD8
— RYAN SΞAN ADAMS – rsa.eth 🦄 (@RyanSAdams) April 24, 2024

Last year, Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov were also charged with facilitating money laundering.

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