The President of the United States opens the door to a potential presidential pardon for the co-founder of the privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet.
During a question-and-answer session held on December 15 at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is willing to examine the possibility of granting a presidential pardon to Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder and chief executive officer of Samourai Wallet.
“I’ve heard about it, I’ll look at it,” Trump said in response to questions from reporters. The President also tasked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi—who was present at the meeting—with conducting a thorough review of the legal case.
“I don’t know anything about it, but we’ll take a look,” Trump also said.
The conviction
Keonne Rodriguez was sentenced last month to five years in federal prison. According to prosecutors, Samourai Wallet facilitated the laundering of millions of dollars linked to criminal activities.
Rodriguez and co-founder William Lonergan Hill, who served as Chief Technology Officer, were arrested during the Biden administration on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmission business. Hill received a four-year prison sentence. Federal prosecutors allege that Rodriguez and Hill actively encouraged users to exploit Samourai Wallet to launder illicit proceeds.
Rodriguez’s response
In a post published on his X profile, Keonne Rodriguez expressed gratitude for the attention shown by Trump. “I have always said that the most challenging aspect of getting a pardon for me and Hill would be getting the attention of President Trump,” Rodriguez wrote.
The Samourai founder emphasized that Trump is well aware of what he described as a Biden-era Department of Justice weaponized against political opponents. “If he looks at our case closely it will be a case of deja vu, and I think he would do the right thing and grant us a pardon,” Rodriguez added. He also noted that he has four days remaining before entering the federal prison camp FPC Morgantown.
Trump’s previous pardons
Trump’s remarks on the Samourai Wallet case fit into a broader pattern of presidential clemency toward figures in the cryptocurrency space. The President previously pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road, a marketplace that used bitcoin as a means of payment.
Last October, Trump also granted a presidential pardon to former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, declaring an end to the Biden administration’s “war on crypto.”
