2024-04-27
The apprehension of the creators of Samourai Wallet raised widespread concerns within the cryptocurrency community, suggesting that the U.S. government aimed to suppress the industry.
In response to the recent arrest of the Samourai Wallet founders, Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, emphasized that crypto mixing services are not illegal.
In an April 25 X post, Ki stated, "Privacy is a fundamental principle of Bitcoin. Mixing itself is not a crime.
Even crypto exchanges utilize mixing to protect user privacy. It's like punishing the inventor of the knife instead of the one who uses it."
According to a report on April 24, Keonne Rodriguez, CEO of Samourai Wallet, and William Hill, the chief technology officer, are each facing charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
The arrest sparked widespread concerns within the crypto community, as participants feared that it signaled another attempt by the U.S. government to suppress the industry.
Notably, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden denounced the arrests as an assault on financial privacy.
In an April 24 X post, Snowden stated, "The Department of 'Justice' has once again criminalized the developers of an app that restores financial privacy.
The solution is to make money private by default. Privacy should never be considered 'exceptional,' or they will criminalize it."
Similarly, crypto analyst Ryan Adams interpreted the enforcement action as an attack on financial privacy by the DOJ.
In an April 24 X post, Adams expressed, "These developers potentially face up to 25 years in prison for writing code. The U.S. is sending a message. No transaction will remain private."
This incident is not the first instance of authorities cracking down on privacy-centric technologies such as cryptocurrency mixers.
In August 2023, the U.S. DOJ charged the developers of crypto mixer Tornado Cash with money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
The three developers, including Alexey Pertsev, were arrested in August 2022, shortly after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash for allegedly facilitating the laundering of over a billion dollars' worth of crypto by the North Korean Lazarus Group.
