<\/p>\n
Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, the founders of Samourai Wallet, have been detained by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly laundering over US$100 million and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting service. <\/p>\n
The arrests are part of a concerted international law enforcement operation targeting the illicit use of \u201ccryptocurrency mixers.\u201d <\/p>\n
The service provided by Samourai Wallet, which has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, was designed to conceal users\u2019 financial activities and has been implicated in over $2 billion of illegal transactions, the United States Attorney\u2019s Office Southern District of New York said<\/a> in a press release.<\/p>\n The investigation into Samourai Wallet, which offered privacy-enhancing features, involved multiple agencies including the IRS, FBI, and Europol. <\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n Authorities have removed the app from the Google Play Store in the U.S. <\/p>\n The founders, who allegedly promoted their service to criminals and sanctioned individuals, were arrested in Pennsylvania and Portugal, with Hill awaiting extradition to the U.S.<\/p>\n Crypto industry members took to social media to express their discontent about the arrests. <\/p>\n \u201cShocked and saddened by the news about Samourai Wallet today. It is one of the biggest failings of this industry that in 15 years we still didn\u2019t find a way for people to maintain their privacy legally. PRIVACY IS NORMAL,\u201d Udi Wertheimer, co-founder of Taproot Wizards said on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n