Crypto Mixer Founders Plead Guilty as Storm Case Heads to Jury

The founders of a cryptocurrency mixing service admitted helping launder more than $100 million in proceeds from illegal darkweb marketplaces and fraud schemes, as the developer of a similar platform awaits a jury verdict in the same court.

Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, who started the Samourai Wallet service, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Wednesday to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business as part of a deal with prosecutors. Law enforcement officials said the mixer executed more than $2 billion in unlawful transactions from a variety of criminal schemes including sales from darkweb markets such as Silk Road and Hydra Market, a spearphishing scheme and attempts to defraud decentralized finance protocols.