Following the developers of Samourai Wallet arrest, a private Bitcoin wallet, being accused this week of money laundering and illegal use of money services, today another private Bitcoin wallet, Wasabi Wallet, issued a statement prohibiting U.S. citizens from using its services.
Starting today, the app will block any user from the U.S., and according to the statement, even those with passports who are not U.S. residents will not have access to Wasabi Wallet services. Wasabi Wallet, which also uses CoinJoin, a way to make Bitcoin more anonymous and private, is taking measures to avoid being blacklisted by the U.S. if it hasn't been already.
The "if" is mentioned because the U.S. government has long been interested in private cryptocurrency projects, and if they didn't already have a dossier on Wasabi Wallet, they're certainly paying attention now with this announcement.
They pay attention because they are obsessed with control and monitoring, and private cryptocurrencies make them go crazy with power. Today, Wasabi Wallet preferred to have no connection with Americans, but this may not be enough to stop an investigation, as in the recent case of Samourai Wallet, where they partnered with Europol, the Portuguese Judicial Police, and others to gather evidence against the developers.
And they didn't stop there. They also, using the FBI, warned Americans not to use crypto services that are not KYC-compliant, clearly suggesting that services dealing with unidentified customers are considered illegal in the U.S..
So there you have it, Wasabi Wallet has blocked all users from the U.S. and hopes to avoid the same fate as Samourai Wallet, but will this keep the U.S. authorities at bay? That's a question only time will answer.
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