The United States Ministry of Justice has intensified its legal efforts in the cryptocurrency space, imposing serious sanctions with several key figures involved in digital currency projects linked to a financial fault. In a recent development, Rowland Marcus Andrade, the founder of AML Bitcoin, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for having frauded investors and bleached. Andrade, who misleads investors with false claims on project partnerships and technological capacities, would have collected around $ 10 million among people who trusted the so -called regulatory and project security measures (1).
Judicial files show thatrade falsely said that the AML Bitcoin platform had been recognized as a payment method by Panama Canal Authority, a complaint that has proven to be more false. Despite cutting -edge and robust security technology insurance, the infrastructure has not complied with the promised standards. Andrade also used at least $ 2 million in personal expenses, including the purchase of real estate and luxury, violating the confidence of investors and neglecting the transparency it had promised (1).
The penalty, although shorter than the maximum of seven years requested by prosecutors, is much more severe than the two -year probation proposed by the defense. Andrade’s incarceration should start on October 31, 2025, with a separate judicial session scheduled for September 16, 2025, to deal with the compensation of the victims and the seizure of assets (1). The action of the DoJ in the AML Bitcoin case underlines the agency’s commitment to hold the cryptographic project managers responsible for the deceptive declarations and improper use of funds.
These application measures are part of a broader regulatory thrust against cryptographic tools focused on privacy. In a separate but related case, the co-founders of the cryptographic mixer focused on the Samurai Wallet private life, William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez, pleaded guilty of having exploited a silver issuer without license. The advocacy agreement avoids the accusation of more serious money laundering, which could have caused a 20 -year prison sentence, which reduces the maximum sentence to five years (1). The DoJ and the FBI closed the platform in 2024 after having been facilitated more than $ 100 million in illicit funds, which raises its concerns about its role in money laundering and sanctions.
The Samurai Wallet affair has sparked a legal debate on the interpretation of federal laws on the transmission of money, defenders of privacy arguing that promoters should not be held responsible for the way users apply their tools. Amanda Tuminelli, chief legal advisor of the DEFI Education Fund, criticized the position of the DoJ, stressing that overcoming could compromise the legitimate chain transaction needs (1). The hearing for determining the sentence of November 6, 2025 will be closely monitored by the cryptographic community and legal experts as a previous potential for future cases involving claims focused on privacy.
The regulatory examination extends beyond the services of mixers. The Ministry of Justice also charged the founder of the Evita cryptocurrency company with 22 violations for having allegedly laundered more than $ 500 million (2). In another case, the American authorities have seized more than $ 10 million in cryptographic assets linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel, reporting a broader strategy to combat criminal funding through digital assets (4).
These actions reflect an increasing legal and political sensitivity to the need for transparency and responsibility in the cryptography market. The AML Bitcoin case, in particular, illustrates how essential it is for investors to examine the technical and legal frameworks of cryptographic projects before investing. While the regulatory pressure continues to rise, the industry faces a critical moment in the definition of the boundaries between privacy, innovation and compliance.
Source:
(1) (The founders of Samurai Wallet plead guilty of silver transmitter loads without license in the middle of a legal debate) (https://en.coinotag.com/samourai-wallet-founders-lid-cuilty-to-to-unlicensed-oney-transmitter-carges amid-legal-debate/)
(2) (regulatory application) (https://www.complianceweek.com/topics/regulatory-enforcement)
(4) (the United States seized $ 10 million in crypto linked to the Sinaloa cartel …) (
