Money Transmitter Definition
Rodriguez and Lonergan Hill are charged in Count 2 with operating an Unregistered Money Transmitter Business. Under U.S. federal law, a money transmitter is defined as a service that provides
money transmission services. This means that the entity is accepting currency, funds or
other value from one person and transmitting it to another location or another person by any means. The only exception to this rule is when purchasing an item from a vendor. Various federal regulations have stated that that the definition of money transmitter includes the acceptance and transmission of other value that substitutes for currency, including cryptocurrency.
The Indictment
Here is the actual language from the indictment
COUNT TWO (Conspiracy· to Operate an Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business) The Grand Jury further charges: 31. The allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 28 of this Indictment are repeated and realleged as if fully set forth herein. 32. From at least in or about 2015 up to and including in or about February 2024, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, KEONNE RODRIGUEZ and WILLIAM LONERGAN HILL, the defendants, and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together and with each other to commit an offense against the United States, to wit, operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1960(b )(1 )(B) and (b )(1 )(C). 33. It was a part and object of the conspiracy that KEONNE RODRIGUEZ and WILLIAM LONERGAN HILL, the defendants, and others known and unknown, would and did knowingly conduct, control, manage, supervise, direct, and own all and prut of an unlicensed money transmitting business, which affected interstate and foreign commerce, and (i) failed to comply with the money transmitting business registration requirements under Section 5330 of Title 31, United States Code, and regulations prescribed under such section, and (ii) otherwise involved the transportation and transmission of funds that were known to the defendants to have been derived from a criminal offense and were intended to be used to promote and support unlawful activity, to wit, RODRIGUEZ and HILL conducted, controlled, managed, supervised, directed, and owned all or part of Samourai, a business that transferred funds on behalf of the public, without meeting the Federal registration requirements set forth for money transmitting businesses...
Conclusion
Putting aside the mixing aspects of the Samourai Wallet, the indictment clearly considers the act of owning the wallet a violation of the law, because it operates without a Money Transmitter license. I'm not saying the U.S. government would choose to prosecute all wallets, custodial or otherwise, but it is clear that they believe they could.