BREAKING: Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez reported to federal prison today.

Rodriguez, who helped build one of Bitcoin’s most prominent privacy tools, surrendered to begin serving a 5-year sentence—the maximum allowed.

What happened:

Built Samourai Wallet in 2015 as a non-custodial Bitcoin privacy tool

DOJ alleges it facilitated $237M in criminal transactions

Arrested in April 2024 during a large FBI raid

Sentenced on November 6, 2025

Reported today to Morgantown Federal Prison

Why this is controversial:

Samourai never held user funds

FinCEN reportedly said it didn’t clearly qualify as a “money transmitter”

Prosecutors moved forward anyway

The twist:

Just days ago, Trump said he would “look at” pardoning Rodriguez and asked the Attorney General to review the case—but no pardon came in time.

Rodriguez’s final message:

He called the prosecution an “anti-innovation, anti-American attack” and said he still hopes Trump will intervene.

With high-profile crypto figures like Ross Ulbricht and Changpeng Zhao already pardoned, many are asking:

Should developers be imprisoned for writing privacy code?