Crypto-Mixing Founders Ran ‘Haven for Criminals,’ US Says (1)

Two founders of the Samourai Wallet crypto-mixing service were charged by federal prosecutors with helping launder $100 million in crime proceeds.

Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill were charged with a money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business from 2015 through February 2024.

During that time, Samourai was used to process $2 billion in anonymous financial transactions, providing a “haven for criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion,” US prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan.

Regulators globally have sought to crack down on crypto mixers, which are designed to obscure ...