Wasabi Wallet takes action as Samourai Wallet users face arrests. Find out why Wasabi Wallet is no longer available to Americans and the implications for privacy-focused cryptocurrency users.
The service is also unavailable to American citizens residing abroad.
For an unknown period, zkSNACKs has prevented American users from using Wasabi Wallet.
The move was most likely made in response to the recent arrests of the Samourai Wallet creators and the pending legal action against the Tornado Cash developers.
The creators of the privacy-focused Wasabi Wallet, zkSNACKs, have banned Americans, both citizens and residents, from using their website.
The team mentioned this in a blog post:
“In light of recent announcements by U.S. authorities, zkSNACKs is now strictly prohibiting U.S. users from using its services. IP address blocking for U.S. residents is effective on wasabiwallet.io, api.wasabiwallet.io, and zksnacks.com,”
The blog article discusses an incident that took place. They arrested the founders of Samourai Wallet. They faced accusations of money laundering.
Following his arrest, Roman Storm, one of the co-founders of Tonado Cash, faced charges of violating trade laws and breaking the law by helping to conceal money. According to the Department of Justice, Storm and his accomplice aided in the laundering of more than $1 billion. This also includes funds intended for Korean organizations.
