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
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO (BCT tokens, ~$30M) for a 'Blockchain Terminal' — a Bloomberg-style crypto trading terminal. The SEC and DOJ said convicted ex-hedge-funder Boaz Manor secretly ran it under a fake identity ('Shaun MacDonald'), using associate Edith Pardo as a front, and lied about the product's adoption.
- Dropil (DROP)TokensAn ICO for the DROP token built around a fake 'Dex' trading bot. The SEC said it raised ~$1.9M while claiming $54M from 34,000 investors, and that the founders falsified evidence during the probe. Founders Jeremy McAlpine and Zachary Matar pleaded guilty to securities fraud (36 and 30 months).
- CluCoin (CLU)Tokens
This page was last updated on Jun 8, 2026. View revision history.