US Government Agreed to Release Samourai's TDev on Bail

• The filing states that Hill is expected to appear in the Southern District of New York on July 9th or 10th, 2024, following his extradition from Portugal, reveals a letter filed on July 3rd.

Hill's defense requests that he be released to his home in Lisbon, Portugal, pending trial, while the US Government wants him extradited to the United States.

• Hill's bail is currently set at a $2 million bond, provided by his family, which includes $200,000 in cash and a family home in New York. The defense is willing to increase the bail package to $3 million by adding additional family real estate in Europe if Hill is allowed to be released on bail to his home in Portugal.
• The defense asserts that Hill poses no flight risk, as the stringent bail package would leave his loved ones homeless if he failed to appear for trial. They also note that Hill is not facing a guaranteed sentence due to the "novelty and aggressiveness of the charges."

Hill's defense also describes the US Government's prosecution as "aggressive as it is expansive, akin to charging Apple for cybercrimes committed with MacBooks. And like such a charge, it impermissibly uses criminal law to affect policy change. He is facing charges he can, should, and will contest at trial."

• It adds that FinCEN guidance "has long made clear that peer-to-peer apps like Samourai Wallet [...] do not qualify as money transmitting services."
• The Southern District of New York held its first hearing on the DOJ's indictment against Samourai Wallet developers in May. The judge ruled that Keonne Rodriguez, another Samourai wallet developer indicted and released on a $1 million bond, would remain under house arrest until the next hearing on September 4, 2024, at 11:30 AM EST.

To support the Samourai Wallet developers in this case, consider making a donation to the P2P Rights Foundation.

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