Amid a US crackdown on cryptocurrency privacy projects, CIA whistleblower turned international fugitive Edward Snowden has issued a “final warning” about Bitcoin privacy.
in Tweet“I've been warning Bitcoin developers for 10 years that they need to provide privacy at the protocol level,” Snowden said, adding, “This is the final warning. The clock is ticking.” Ta.
He responded to a post from Wasabi Wallet, a crypto privacy project, announcing that it had shut down its service for U.S. users. Wasabi Wallet is one of the many projects that have limited privacy services in recent days. Just yesterday, cryptocurrency hardware wallet maker Trezor announced that it would be discontinuing its anonymized CoinJoin feature, which utilized the same CoinJoin coordinator as Wasabi Wallet.
Wasabi Wallet's move comes days after U.S. authorities arrested the founders of bitcoin mixer Samourai Wallet on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unauthorized money transfer business.
Both in this case and in a brief response to a defense motion to dismiss the case against Roman Storm, the developer of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, Justice Department prosecutors have argued that wallet developers over which they have no direct control adopted a broader interpretation of the Remittance Law to include people with disabilities. Beyond user assets.
The move has sparked a backlash in the crypto community, with some crypto advocates viewing it as a crackdown on crypto privacy projects by US authorities.
“At this point, it is difficult to know whether this is a deliberate attempt to abruptly change long-established policy through criminal enforcement, or a significant disconnect between the Department of Justice and FinCEN.” Director Peter Van Valkenburgh wrote: Cryptocurrency advocacy group Coin Center said in a blog post. “In any case, this is a disaster for the rule of law, the due process rights of defendants, and fundamental freedoms of speech and privacy.”
Coin Center characterized the Justice Department's position as “massive overreach,” arguing that it contradicts existing FinCEN guidance and rulings. U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) joined the chorus, saying she was “deeply troubled” by the Justice Department's “very aggressive argument that non-custodial software may qualify as a money transfer service.” “There is,” he said.
Immediately after the arrest of the Samourai Wallet founder, the FBI issued a warning to Americans against using unregistered cryptocurrency transfer services.
Under federal law, registered money services businesses (MSBs) are required to conduct know-your-customer (KYC) checks. Public blockchains such as Bitcoin are public ledgers of transactions, so when a pseudo-anonymous crypto wallet is traded on a platform that requires KYC checks, the entire transaction history of the wallet user is exposed.
“Cooling effect”
Privacy advocates have taken aim at the “chilling effect” of recent actions by US authorities.
Anna Chekhovich, Finance Director, Anti-Corruption Foundation; It pointed out The nonprofit said it was using Wasabi Wallet to protect donors from the Russian government's “risk of surveillance and imprisonment,” adding, “That was not taken into account when U.S. authorities launched attacks on privacy tools.” “I haven't done it,” he added.
The United States is not alone in taking aim at cryptocurrency privacy in recent days. The British government characterized privacy coins as “not contributing to the public interest” in an announcement last week giving British police new crypto seizure powers.
British police now have the power to seize cryptocurrencies, as well as other items such as written passwords and memory sticks, before making an arrest. Officers will also transfer illegal cryptocurrencies to law enforcement-controlled wallets and destroy seized cryptoassets “as appropriate.”
Edited by Stacey Elliott.
