Case Overview: Samourai Wallet Co-Founder Sentenced to Four Years
On November 19, 2026, William 'Bill' Hill, 67, co-founder of Bitcoin mixing service Samourai Wallet, was sentenced to four years in prison for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business that processed over $237 million in criminal proceeds, according to journalist Frank Corva. Hill pleaded guilty in July in the Southern District of New York, admitting that the platform he co-founded was used to conceal illicit funds from activities including drug trafficking, darknet marketplaces, cyber intrusions, fraud, sanctioned jurisdictions, murder-for-hire schemes, and a child pornography website.
Prosecutors said Hill and co-founder Keonne Rodriguez actively promoted Samourai Wallet to criminal users on darknet forums and internally recognized that its mixing process functioned as 'money laundering for Bitcoin.'
Platform Mechanics: How Whirlpool and Ricochet Enabled Money Laundering
Authorities said the pair ran Samourai Wallet's Whirlpool and Ricochet services to obscure the origins of criminal proceeds. Whirlpool coordinated Bitcoin exchanges between users, while Ricochet added multiple transaction 'hops' to make tracing more difficult. From 2017 to 2019, over 80,000 Bitcoin — worth more than $2 billion at the time — flowed through the services, generating over $6 million in fees. Court records indicate Rodriguez and Hill actively encouraged criminal use, with Rodriguez describing the services as 'money laundering for bitcoin' and Hill promoting Whirlpool on a darknet forum as making illicit funds 'untraceable.' They also publicly urged hackers to launder stolen funds following a 2020 social media hack, prosecutors contended.
Contrasting Sentences: CEO Rodriguez Gets Five Years
As mentioned earlier, Keonne Rodriguez, CEO of Samourai Wallet, was sentenced to five years in prison earlier this month for the same scheme. Rodriguez’s sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan, followed an hour-long hearing. Rodriguez and Hill were arrested in April 2024 and charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Hill’s sentence was reduced due to his age and recent autism diagnosis, with the judge allowing him to serve three years of supervised release from Lisbon, and imposing a $250,000 fine. At sentencing, Hill expressed remorse: 'I am deeply remorseful and ashamed of what I did.'
Regulatory Implications: Winter for Privacy Tools
The case reflects a growing crackdown on privacy-focused crypto tools, following similar prosecutions of developers of platforms like Tornado Cash. The Department of Justice framed the case as part of a wider crackdown on crypto mixing services, emphasizing the defendants’ active promotion of illicit fund laundering, which undermined trust in digital assets. Legal experts warn that developers of privacy protocols such as Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash face existential threats as regulators escalate enforcement actions. The sentencing sends a clear message: creating or promoting tools that obscure financial transactions, even with legitimate privacy intentions, can lead to severe criminal penalties if used for illicit purposes.