Keonne Rodriguez
Co-founder and CEO of Samourai Wallet. He pleaded guilty in 2025 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and was sentenced to five years in prison; prosecutors cited messages calling mixing 'money laundering for Bitcoin.'
Also known as: Keonne Rodriguez
Note: Rodriguez pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitter (the money-laundering count was dropped).
Bio
Keonne Rodriguez co-founded and led Samourai Wallet, a privacy Bitcoin wallet with the Whirlpool and Ricochet mixing tools. Prosecutors said he encouraged criminal use — including urging 2020 social-media hackers to "feed" stolen funds into Whirlpool, and describing the process as "money laundering for Bitcoin." [1][2]
Legal outcome
Arrested in April 2024, Rodriguez pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and, on November 6, 2025, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, a $250,000 fine, and forfeiture. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
- Samourai Wallet Co-Founder Sentenced (Rodriguez, 60 months) — Ballard Spahr / Money Laundering Watch
- Samourai Wallet CTO William Hill Sentenced to Four Years in Prison — Decrypt
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
- 2025 Czech government Bitcoin scandalOtherA political-corruption scandal in which the Czech Ministry of Justice, under minister Pavel Blažek, accepted a donation of 468 bitcoin (~$45M) in early 2025 from Tomáš Jiříkovský, a convicted darknet/drug figure, then sold part of it. After Deník N revealed the deal in May 2025, Blažek resigned, a criminal money-laundering investigation followed, and the government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.