@temancuk
What's the Scoop?
Founders Sentenced: Samourai CEO Keonne Rodriguez and CTO William Lonergan Hill previously pleaded guilty to knowingly transmitting over $237M in criminal proceeds this July. The pair was respectively sentenced to five and four years in prison.
Built to Evade: According to prosecutors, Samourai was engineered around two services specifically intended to conceal the nature of illicit transactions. The first obscured the origins of a particular Bitcoin Bitcoin holding and the second introduced unnecessary intermediate transactions for transfers, preventing law enforcement agencies from tracing funds back to their origins.
Marketed for Criminals: Samourai's own marketing materials and communication promoted the product's use for illicit activity. In one example provided by prosecutors, CEO Rodriguez described his service as “money laundering for bitcoin" when asked to explain the concept of mixing.
Pardon Efforts: Grassroots efforts appealing to President Donald Trump.
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