Sofos wallet: co-founder Keonn Rodriguez pleaded not guilty and was released on a $1 million bail.

NEW YORK — Samourai Wallet co-founder Keon Rodriguez pleaded not guilty on Monday in Manhattan court to two criminal charges related to the development and promotion of a privacy-focused Bitcoin application and a mixing service. Rodriguez, 35, and another co-founder of Samourai Wallet, William Lonergan Hill, 65, were arrested last week — Rodriguez in Pennsylvania and Hill in Portugal. They were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business. The maximum penalty for these crimes is20and5years, respectively.

Prosecutors claimed that from 2015 until the confiscation of the Samourai Wallet servers last week, the application "provided more100 million dollarsin operations for laundering money from illegal darknet markets" and about2 billion dollarsRegarding "illegal transactions" in general. The arrests and the shutdown of Samourai Wallet are happening against the backdrop of the U.S. government's preparations for a case against Roman Storm, the developer of Tornado Cash, which has sparked a widespread reaction in the crypto industry.

In the press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the arrest of a couple last week, prosecutors noted that Rodriguez and Hill "encouraged and openly invited users to launder criminal proceeds," viewing "limited markets" as their target audience. Rodriguez was arrested around6 AMin his home in Harmony, Pennsylvania, on April 24. He was later released by a Pennsylvania judge on bail of25,000 dollarsand required to appear before the magistrate in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Monday morning.

Judge Barbara Moses of the Magistrate Court has decided to release Rodriguez on bail.1 million dollarsOn Monday, agreeing to the terms set forth in the bail package, which were negotiated by both federal prosecutors and Rodriguez's attorneys—Sean Buckley and Michael Kately from the international law firm Kobre Kim. Rodriguez's bail will be secured by property in Pennsylvania and the signatures of his wife and another family member. Except for trips to court, Rodriguez will remain at home and will be monitored using location tracking technology.

The next court hearing in the Rodriguez case is scheduled forMay 14in2:00 PMIn Manhattan before District Judge Richard Berman. Berman previously handled the case of the fraudster from Mango Markets, Abraham Eisenberg, earlier this year.