Samourai Wallet faces laundering charges after FinCEN advice withheld

Lawyers for Samourai Wallet’s founders have accused federal prosecutors of withholding key guidance from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that indicated the crypto mixing service did not require a license to operate.

According to a letter filed on May 5, 2025, attorneys for Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill stated that FinCEN had informed prosecutors six months before charges were brought that the Samourai Wallet app would not be classified as a “Money Services Business” under existing rules, and therefore did not need a FinCEN license.

Despite this, prosecutors charged Rodriguez and Hill in February 2024 with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and money laundering conspiracy, unsealing the charges and arresting the pair in April 2024.

The defense claims the government was obligated to disclose its discussions with FinCEN within two weeks of unsealing the charges, but instead delayed for over a year, only revealing the information on April 1, 2025.

Samourai Wallet’s service, which mixes cryptocurrency from multiple users to obscure transaction origins, is alleged by authorities to have facilitated more than $2 billion in illegal transactions and over $100 million in money laundering linked to online black markets and scams.

Both Rodriguez and Hill have pleaded not guilty.

“Because Samourai does not take ‘custody’ of the cryptocurrency by possessing the private keys to any addresses where the cryptocurrency is stored, that would strongly suggest that Samourai is NOT acting as an MSB \[money services business],” an internal email from a prosecutor summarised FinCEN’s position.

“The relevant regulator told the prosecutors that Samourai Wallet was not a money transmitter… and the prosecutors went ahead and indicted them anyway,” stated the defense’s May 5 filing.

This disclosure follows new Justice Department guidance barring prosecution of non-custodial software tools for unlicensed money transmission.

“Just revealed: FinCEN explicitly told prosecutors Samourai Wallet wasn’t a money transmitter due to its non-custodial design; DOJ prosecuted developers anyway, suppressing exculpatory evidence for a year,” according to Zack Shapiro of the Bitcoin Policy Institute.