A trial that should have never existed

[jossiel]

I also want to see how Trump will act on this one. The call for privacy is important and despite that they're the government, they should value that for the people who wants to keep their anonymity.

But we might get the pattern here, just look at how Trump gave Ross an unconditional pardon.

We could see the same thing with samourai devs.

[lornadane]

Ngl, not all trials are created equal. Some are political or symbolic, and sometimes it’s safer to just watch and learn rather than get involved until the dust settles.

[Agbamoni]

I am not a big FAN of trump and he hasn't been a perfect president for me so far but if he can make this happen and free these developers I will be very happy and change the way I look at Trump onward, war on privacy shouldn't be taking place, the war should be on those who don't want people to have their privacy, we deserve it.

Trump cannot make a verdict based on one man's plea. It wont change the fact that there are top politicians who are not happy with privacy wallets. I am very skeptical of what Trump's judgment would be. He is too careful these days as regards deciding on that matter. The latest news on Rodriguez & William Hill is that Trump have considere to do another review whether to intervene by pardon or clemency.

[yudi09]

I am not a big FAN of trump and he hasn't been a perfect president for me so far but if he can make this happen and free these developers I will be very happy and change the way I look at Trump onward, war on privacy shouldn't be taking place, the war should be on those who don't want people to have their privacy, we deserve it.

However, those of us who want complete privacy without ending up in court like in this case can do nothing to defend it. If it is true, we will defend it personally without looking at who and how the suspect is.
Countries around the world want openness, but in some respects they do not want any actions that involve privacy because the government feels that they have the capacity and capability in all aspects, including those related to privacy. Wrong is wrong and right is right. It doesn't matter who they are or what their rank is.

[Maus0728]

This is just a face to show that the current banking system is still the best financial institution when in reality it is not anymore, not even in the last decade that banks have dominated are they ever that strong, now that people who can control their own money are challenging them, they suddenly need to do something about them, that is why these developers are being put on trial because they challenged the system. This is all just a big show of power when in reality, the government does not have the ability to control these people and the technology of cryptocurrency, this is how they retaliate I guess. Imagine if people are not reliant of their own government, the decay of that structure will become inevitable because they rely on our taxes and our cooperation.

[Iranus]

This should have never happened in the first place, if is crazy how developers are facing trials all because they created a Bitcoin wallet that has privacy feature built in them, I am talking about samourai wallet devs who got arrested.

I am not a big FAN of trump and he hasn't been a perfect president for me so far but if he can make this happen and free these developers I will be very happy and change the way I look at Trump onward, war on privacy shouldn't be taking place, the war should be on those who don't want people to have their privacy, we deserve it.

The problem is that Rodriguezs associates have already pleaded guilty. This means they were indeed operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. However Trump saying he will consider it does not mean he has already pardoned them. He just said that the allegations should be reviewed again. My point is Trump is commenting on these issues even before Rodriguez has started serving his sentence which clearly shows that the pressure from the crypto community is having an effect, lol. Otherwise  he would not have given such a green light. Anyway  if Trump ultimately pardons Rodriguez  it will be a huge achievement for the entire crypto world

[BIT-BENDER]

The pardon of Ross and the possible pardon of Samourai developers would not be a solution.  As much as I dislike Kruw who is a Coin Join coordinator, he does not deserve to be prosecuted either and his name already appeared in a document or two targeting him a while ago.  Does he need a pardon too or should we finally start looking for an actual solution to the war against Privacy?

At least the Trump administration seems less crazy than what happened during the Biden administration, but it seems that the war on privacy will not stop except with a political system that respects the privacy of users, and until that happens, we will be at one time with a more extreme side and at another time with a less extreme side.

Trump might be the president but Many of people in affiliation to Biden are still found in power and Trump despite the fact that he hate to work with people who are against his believes for democracy sake he has to work with some of those in favour of Biden's believes.
The war against privacy will always be a continuous one because it is every where not only in the United States.
It is now very easy to arrests Devs, exchange CEO and people connected to Crypto-currency

[Fivestar4everMVP]

The pardon of Ross and the possible pardon of Samourai developers would not be a solution.  As much as I dislike Kruw who is a Coin Join coordinator, he does not deserve to be prosecuted either and his name already appeared in a document or two targeting him a while ago.  Does he need a pardon too or should we finally start looking for an actual solution to the war against Privacy?

At least the Trump administration seems less crazy than what happened during the Biden administration, but it seems that the war on privacy will not stop except with a political system that respects the privacy of users, and until that happens, we will be at one time with a more extreme side and at another time with a less extreme side.

Trump might be the president but Many of people in affiliation to Biden are still found in power and Trump despite the fact that he hate to work with people who are against his believes for democracy sake he has to work with some of those in favour of Biden's believes.
The war against privacy will always be a continuous one because it is every where not only in the United States.
It is now very easy to arrests Devs, exchange CEO and people connected to Crypto-currency

You are right to be honest, the war against privacy is one that we may never get over with but simply continue to manage due to the diverse nature of the different economies and financial policies around different parts of the world.
Trump is president today and he may not fully be against privacy but how do we know the intentions of the president that will come after him?

Or let's assume the war against privacy is won in the US, what happens in the rest of the world where this war will be heavily fought? We all can not live in the US right? And this is why I agreed that the war against privacy may never end but will continuously be fought from one government to another and from one country to another.

[Floxynice]

I am not a big FAN of trump and he hasn't been a perfect president for me so far but if he can make this happen and free these developers I will be very happy and change the way I look at Trump onward, war on privacy shouldn't be taking place, the war should be on those who don't want people to have their privacy, we deserve it.

I am confident that president Trump will pardon them,  he seem to really understand that self custody and privacy is never a crime but our rights. Several times he has always maintained that people have the right to privacy and self custody. These sorts of illegal arrests and detention are only witnessed in a society were people who feels threatened by privacy are in power. The previous administration wasn't bitcoin friendly that's why this actually happened, if Trump was in power I don't think this arrest would have happened in the first place.

Privacy and anonymity has always been the issue the government have had with Bitcoin since it's creation. I know that Trump is a bit friendly with Bitcoin compared to Biden,  but knowing how politicians are, one can't be so confident in Trump on a matter like this. Even if Trump should pardon them, I wouldn't want to believe that such pardon will come without a cost. The developers Will definitely have to forgo something to serve as a deterrent to other developers.

[retreat]

As long as the government considers mixers to be tools for money laundering and illegal activity, those who use them will immediately receive a negative label from the government. Even if it's for privacy purposes or something unrelated to illegal activity, the government simply dislikes it because they consider anything that attempts to remove their control over transactions a threat to their established financial oversight and control systems.

Trump might be expected to pardon these developers (or not at all), but we can't fully rely on him because, after all, he's a politician whose decisions will still be influenced by political interests. However, if he can do so, it would be a plus for him.

[FinneysTrueVision]

Even if they are pardoned, they have already been sentenced for being an unlicensed money business. This sets a bad precedent, because it still allows them to arrest developers of noncustodial services if they don’t implement KYC or AML screening. We are already seeing examples of protocols, which are supposedly decentralized, preventing users from using their service because a compliance check arbitrarily flagged their address.

[aysha9853]

I don’t really care about politics here, this is bigger than Trump or any single leader, privacy is a basic right, especially in a system where every transaction is public forever, going after wallet devs instead of actual criminals feels lazy and wrong.

[zasad@]

I don’t really care about politics here, this is bigger than Trump or any single leader, privacy is a basic right, especially in a system where every transaction is public forever, going after wallet devs instead of actual criminals feels lazy and wrong.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/founders-samourai-wallet-cryptocurrency-mixing-service-sentenced-five-and-four-years
"Samourai CEO Keonne Rodriguez and Samourai CTO William Lonergan Hill Knowingly Transmitted Over $237 Million in Criminal Proceeds
Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, Nicolas Roos announced today the sentencings of KEONNE RODRIGUEZ and WILLIAM LONERGAN HILL, the co-founders of Samourai Wallet (“Samourai”), a cryptocurrency mixer that facilitated over $237 million in illegal transactions.  RODRIGUEZ, the Chief Executive Officer of Samourai, and HILL, the Chief Technology Officer, participated in a conspiracy to operate a money transmitting business in which they knowingly transmitted criminal proceeds.  The over $237 million dollars of criminal proceeds laundered through Samourai came from, among other things, drug trafficking, darknet marketplaces, cyber-intrusions, frauds, sanctioned jurisdictions, murder-for-hire schemes, and a child pornography website.  RODRIGUEZ and HILL were respectively sentenced to five and four years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote sentenced RODRIGUEZ on November 6, 2025, and HILL on November 19, 2025.

The defendants also had a clear understanding that Samourai was, in fact, used for money laundering.  In a WhatsApp exchange, when asked to explain the concept of “mixing,” RODRIGUEZ described the process as “money laundering for bitcoin.”  The defendant’s own marketing materials acknowledged that customers would include “Dark/Grey Market participants” moving proceeds from “illicit activity.”"

____
Read the official documents. The court convicted the developers not for the software.

[YOSHIE]

I am talking about samourai wallet devs who got arrested.

If we examine in detail the problem that occurred with the arrest of the founder of the Samourai wallet, it does not lie in the privacy of the wallet itself, but on the basis of legal and regulatory issues, they/the owners of the Samourai wallet ignored all of that.

The reason is that they are accused of conducting business and operating the Samourai wallet business and sending money without permission from US authorities. This can trigger other allegations and accusations such as money laundering and also allegations of avoiding tracking crypto transactions, This situation will clearly bring crime as happened in the previous mixer service.

I think that if the founders of the Samourai wallet, from the start, obeyed the rules and laws in the US regarding the wallet operating system, I am sure they would be safe without any problems and they could operate the Samourai wallet safely.