Calls for a presidential pardon for Samurai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill are growing, with Bitcoin advocates and policy groups calling on US President Donald Trump to intervene before they go to prison next year.
Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Hill pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transfer business and were sentenced in November to five and four years in prison, respectively. As part of the plea agreement, each suspect admitted only to conspiracy to conduct an unauthorized money transfer business, and the laundering charges were reduced. Unless they are granted clemency, both men are scheduled to be released from prison in early January 2026.
Prominent figures in the Bitcoin (BTC) community have expressed support for the pardon, including veteran broadcaster and Bitcoin advocate Max Keizer, Bitcoin media entrepreneur Marty Bent, and television show hosts. bitcoin podcastWalker America.
Zach Shapiro of the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) filed a lawsuit seeking a full pardon, arguing that the Samurai case misapplies federal money transfer laws to non-custodial software.
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Bitcoin Policy Institute: Amnesty would “restore legal transparency”
On December 2nd, the Bitcoin Policy Institute published a detailed lawsuit supporting Samurai Developers’ pardon, arguing that the charges are based on a misuse of federal money transfer laws and that non-custodial tools fall outside the BSA’s sender framework.
In BPI’s view, treating Samourai developers as money transmitters would erase the long-standing legal distinction between software publishers and financial intermediaries. The institute also warned that leaving the convictions in place risks dampening innovation in privacy-preserving Bitcoin tools in the United States.
From BPI’s perspective, “the pardon corrects a clear misuse of federal law, protects the integrity of long-standing distinctions in financial regulation, and reaffirms that the release of non-custodial software is not and should not be a criminal act.”
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Community comes together to support Samourai developers
A petition calling for clemency for the Samourai developers has garnered over 3,200 signatures at the time of writing, with support from the Bitcoin community and others. Walker America posted on December 2nd:
“President Trump should pardon the developers of Samurai Wallet. If @realDonaldTrump truly wants America to become the Bitcoin capital of the world, our government should not turn a blind eye to the crimes of big bankers and unjustly imprison Bitcoin developers.”
Max Keizer tagged Eric Trump on Nov. 8, writing, “Eric, it’s time to step up,” as the Samurai incident reached the inner circle of Trump’s influencers.
The Oregon Libertarian Party also supported amnesty and freedom of expression, arguing that “the law is speech!”
Pardons, optics, and the billionaire paradox
Since taking office, Trump has built a remarkable track record of granting crypto-related pardons, including high-profile pardons for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Chao.
This background has led some in the Bitcoin community to question how the amnesty will play out. A billionaire exchange founder implicated in a major compliance scandal will be pardoned, while two open source wallet developers will serve four- and five-year terms.
“The perceived corruption associated with the CZ pardon will only get worse if the Samourai Wallet developer is not pardoned for similar charges. How much of World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin do I need to hold to qualify for pardon?” commented Bitcoin researcher Kyle Torpey.
The clock is ticking, and advocates argue that what happens in the coming weeks will say as much about the future of privacy-focused development in the United States as it will about the fate of the two programmers heading to prison.
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