"Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill did not operate a financial service or handle customer assets. They wrote and maintained software that allowed users to construct collaborative Bitcoin transactions in a privacy-preserving way. Throughout the tool's entire lifecycle, users controlled their own keys, initiated their own transactions, and never relied on Samourai or its developers to transmit or safeguard value."
"In an internal analysis, the agency concluded that Samourai's architecture did not constitute money transmission because no third party took possession or control of user funds. That conclusion was never disclosed to the defense while the prosecution advanced a theory that required the opposite: that building software which users employ for privacy is functionally equivalent to operating a financial institution."
Samourai Wallet raises how the United States treats non-custodial software and developers. Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill did not operate a financial service or handle customer assets; they wrote software enabling privacy-preserving collaborative Bitcoin transactions. Users controlled their keys, initiated transactions, and never relied on the developers to transmit or safeguard funds. The Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN guidance distinguish custodial services from non-custodial tools based on third-party possession or control of funds. FinCEN's internal analysis found Samourai's architecture did not constitute money transmission because no third party took possession or control. Despite that, the prosecution advanced a contrary theory and treated developers as responsible for user actions; individual misuse does not create creator liability.
Read at Bitcoin Magazine
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