Samourai Wallet Legal Limbo: Prosecutors May Drop Charges in Pivotal Privacy Case

Privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet faces uncertain future as DOJ reconsiders its crackdown.

Key developments: Case paused indefinitely, signaling potential retreat from aggressive crypto prosecution strategy. Legal experts speculate this could set precedent for privacy tool legitimacy.

The irony? Treasury keeps printing surveillance-friendly dollars while targeting financial sovereignty tech. Your move, regulators.

Deputy Attorney General Disbands Enforcement Team

The request follows an April 7 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which disbanded the DOJ’s digital asset enforcement team and signaled a retreat from prosecuting crypto-related cases that do not involve investor harm or clear criminal activity.

Blanche’s memo emphasized that the DOJ “is not a digital assets regulator.”

According to the letter, defense attorneys met with prosecutors and their supervisors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan on April 24 to discuss the potential dismissal.

The defendants argued that postponing the filing schedule would help them avoid “significant expense” if the government ultimately agrees to drop the case.

Rodriguez and Hill were indicted in April 2024 on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Both have pleaded not guilty.

One year since the arrest of the Samourai Wallet developers pic.twitter.com/b6Yt8ZZ5mN

— CR1337 (@cryptonator1337) April 24, 2025

If the court grants the delay, the new deadlines would move motions to May 29, responses to June 26, and replies to July 10. The proposed continuance would not affect the trial date, which is currently scheduled for November.

The case is part of a broader rollback of crypto prosecutions under the Trump administration. Earlier this month, SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony cited the same DOJ memo in his motion to dismiss fraud charges.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups like the DeFi Education Fund are calling on the White House to halt the prosecution of open-source developers, including Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, arguing such actions chill innovation and criminalize software development.

Crypto Firms Urge Congress To Challenge DOJ’s Legal Case Against Tornado Cash Developers

A coalition of 34 crypto firms and advocacy groups is urging Congress to push back against what they call an “unprecedented and overly expansive” legal interpretation used by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in its case against the developers of crypto mixer Tornado Cash.

In a letter dated March 26, the group—led by the DeFi Education Fund and co-signed by major industry players including Coinbase and Kraken—warned lawmakers that the DOJ’s current stance could criminalize nearly all blockchain software developers.

The letter was sent to key committees in both the House and Senate, including the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee.

Key Takeaways

• Samourai Wallet founders and prosecutors jointly requested a delay as they consider dismissing the case following a DOJ policy shift.
• The DOJ disbanded its digital asset enforcement team, signaling a retreat from prosecuting crypto-related cases without clear criminal activity.
• The broader crypto community, including advocacy groups, is pushing back against aggressive legal actions targeting open-source developers.