Key facts: Hill's bail could be as high as $3.4 million. Hill is scheduled to appear in court for the first time this week in New York. The defense of William Lonergan Hill, co-founder of the Bitcoin wallet Samouraimanaged to get him to opt for bailafter being arrested in April of this year. In a letter from Hill's legal representation to Judge Sarah Netburn, who is in charge of the case, it can be seen that, despite the agreement reached, there are still details pending before this procedure is finalized. The most important thing to know agree would be the amount to be paidwhich will depend on where Hill is allowed to live. If he stays in his sister's basement in New York, which is approved by the US authorities, the bail would be $2 million. However, the defense is offering to raise the payment to $3.4 million if Hill is allowed to remain at his residence in Portugal, along with his wife. It should be noted that Hill is a 65-year-old man. The bail would be paid with cash and real estate holdings of Hill's family in New York and Europe. According to the letter, Hill will have to appear for the first time before the Southern District Court of New York between July 9 and 10 of this year. However, the trial itself is expected to formally begin in 2025. It is worth mentioning that the other co-founder of Samourai, Keonne Rodriguez, 35 years old, managed to agree to his freedom by paying a bail of USD 1 million. An agreement that became known in April of this year and that we reviewed in BitcoinDynamic at the time.
Google leads the arguments in favor of Hill
According to the US Department of Justice, this BTC wallet allegedly enabled illegal transactions worth over $2 billion and facilitated $100 million in transactions linked to money laundering from illegal dark web marketplaces. The defense alleges that Samourai was available from its inception in the Google app store for Android device users. This implies that had to undergo a thorough review of the platform to verify its operability and legality, before being listed. It was not until after the arrest of the app's founders that it was no longer available on the store.
“The rest of the Bitcoin community, and apparently Google, who by publicly offering and profiting from the sale of an app that the Government now claims was unequivocally 'intended to assist individuals engaged in criminal conduct to conceal the source of their criminal proceeds,' would, under the Government's theory, be unindicted co-conspirators.” Letter from William Lonergan Hill's legal representation
Despite the arguments presented by Hill's defense, Google has not been charged for facilitating access to Samourai Wallet to the billions of Google Play Store users for years. This is one of the points that Hill will cling to in order to contest the charges against her. Added to this is a letter written by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden, in which they express that this type of accusations against self-custodial cryptocurrency software developers “will only serve to stifle innovation and undermine confidence in the DOJ’s respect for the rule of law.”