Samourai Wallet forked into ‘Ashigaru’ Open Source Project

On Sept. 20, a mysterious group of developers announced they performed a hard fork of the Samourai Wallet code and released the first version of a mobile wallet building upon the Samourai team’s work under the new “Ashigaru Open Source Project.”

The project’s website states that Ashigaru “develops, releases, and maintains free and open-source software” and promises to develop solutions with a low technical barrier to entry while keeping users secure, shielded from counter-party risk, and private — fully maximizing censorship resistance.

Ashigaru’s developers noted that the project makes “extensive use” of code from the public domain and other crypto projects. In their mission statement, the developers stated:

“We believe anyone should be able to engage in peaceful, voluntary, and private commerce on the internet without tracking, surveillance, or censorship.”

Little is known about the development team, who identified themselves as “former users of Samourai Wallet” but explained that they had no ties to the Samourai Wallet core development group.

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The arrest of the Samourai Wallet developers

In April 2024, Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill, the founders of the Samourai Wallet — a privacy-enhancing Bitcoin wallet — were arrested on money laundering charges in a case brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

According to the DOJ, the founders “Executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions and facilitated more than $100 million in money laundering transactions.” The pair face a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

As part of the investigation, the FBI seized the Samourai Wallet’s website and servers. Law enforcement officials also forced app stores to remove the Samourai Wallet application.

Rodriguez later pleaded not guilty and was released on a $1 million bail-bond agreement with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York but must remain within certain geographic boundaries until the conclusion of his case.

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