The creators of a cryptocurrency mixing platform called Samourai Wallet are heading to prison. They laundered an astounding $237 million total through their service.
• Whirlpool: Mixed Bitcoin with many other users to further obscure prior ownership.
• Ricochet: Added “hops” to a transaction to impede cash tracking.
These specialized applications allowed criminals to obscure the source of their funds. From 2015 through 2024, Samourai wallet laundered more than $2 billion into illegal funds from drug dealing, dark net markets, and other cyber/internet crimes. The co-founders took in about $4.5 million in fees.
Wouldn’t you prefer to use crypto with a valid service and without troubling legal implications?
Who Was Convicted?
The two main players were Keonne Rodriguez, CEO and William Lonergan Hill, CTO. Rodriguez will spend five years in prison and Hill will stay four. Both will have an additional three years supervised released with a $250,000 fine. They were detained in April of 2024 and plead guilty in August, 2025. In addition to the jail time and fines, they were required to forfeit the total $237 million that they earned from the crypto scam.How Did Samourai Function?
Samourai Wallet didn't work like a typical crypto app; it had its own applications designed for anonymity:• Whirlpool: Mixed Bitcoin with many other users to further obscure prior ownership.
• Ricochet: Added “hops” to a transaction to impede cash tracking.
These specialized applications allowed criminals to obscure the source of their funds. From 2015 through 2024, Samourai wallet laundered more than $2 billion into illegal funds from drug dealing, dark net markets, and other cyber/internet crimes. The co-founders took in about $4.5 million in fees.
What Did Authorities Do?
The authorities moved quickly and seized Samourai's servers and websites, and Google took the app down from the Play Store. At one point Samourai had over 100,000 downloads which meant criminals could send money anonymously.Why Does It Matter?
Do you want to know how crypto mixers work? Samourai's app shows that these mixing apps can disguise where the money went quite well. But the takeaway is that law enforcement can find and prove illegal acts, even years after the act. There are serious implications for using crypto for illegal purposes.Take Away
If you hear of any “mixers” or apps that are completely anonymous, just think of Samourai. It may sound cool at the time but ultimately they are confiscated and the founders get charged with crimes, ultimately millions of dollars seized. Crypto may sound fun, but the risk of legal consequences far out ways any rewards.Wouldn’t you prefer to use crypto with a valid service and without troubling legal implications?