Samourai
Wallet Founder
to Remain Under
House Arrest After
Judge Sees His
'
Bug Out Prep’
Notes
Samourai Wallet Founder to Remain Under House Arrest After Judge Sees His
'Bug Out Prep’ Notes
Keonne Rodriguez was denied changes to his bail conditions after the
prosecution presented handwritten notes detailing travel plans.
By Stephen Graves
Sep 18, 2024 Sep 18, 2024
2 min read
Images: Samourai Wallet/Bumble Dee/Shutterstock
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Samourai Wallet founder Keonne Rodriguez was denied changes to his bail
conditions in a Southern District Court of New York hearing on charges of
operating an unlicensed money transmitter.
Lawyers for the prosecution successfully argued that the privacy dev should
remain under house arrest, after presenting evidence including handwritten
notes detailing his “bug out prep.”
The notes detailed plans to pack a bag with passports, $10,000 cash, a burner
phone and laptop, encrypted USB sticks and mnemonic seed phrases securing “as
much Bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin as possible.” Source: Court filings
A separate note appeared to detail travel plans from Miami to Cuba or the
United Kingdom via Jamaica, stopping at “shitty gas stations” and using “cash
only.”
Rodriguez’s lawyer argued that the notes were part of a general emergency
plan, while the prosecution claimed that they pertained to an active escape
plan on Rodriguez’s part.
Samourai Wallet and privacy
Rodriguez and his co-founder William Lonergan Hill were arrested in April and
charged with operating what prosecutors call “a cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта mixer that
executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions and facilitated more than
$100 million in money laundering transactions from illegal dark web markets.”
Samourai Wallet is a non-custodial app that enables users to store Bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin
privately, as well as functioning as a coin mixer that obfuscates transactions
by combining them, making movements harder to trace.
Lawyers for Hill and Rodriguez have cited a May 2024 letter from Sens. Cynthia
Lummis (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) of
overreach in its interpretation of non-custodial crypto asset software
services as “unlicensed money transmitting businesses.”
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In the letter, Lummis and Wyden argue that, “At no point when operating or
providing non-custodial services do such service providers "accept" crypto
assets from their users,” and that the DOJ has contradicted guidance from
FinCEN. “It is very concerning that DOJ would adopt an interpretation of this
registration requirement that is contrary to another Federal agency,” the pair
wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott .
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