Biography
Keonne Rodriguez is a co-founder and CEO of Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin privacy ("mixing") wallet. Arrested on April 24, 2024 and charged with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and money-laundering conspiracy, he pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the unlicensed-money-transmitting count and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote on November 6, 2025 to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Privacy and developer-freedom advocates have championed the case as the criminalization of building financial-privacy software; in December 2025 President Trump indicated he would review Rodriguez's case for a possible pardon.
