Why are Bitcoin wallets abandoning the US?
Bitcoin wallets Wasabi Wallet and Phoenix Wallet have announced that they will soon no longer be available to residents of the United States. What is going on ?
Wasabi Wallet and Phoenix Wallet, 2 wallets dedicated to Bitcoin, recently announced that residents of the United States will soon no longer have access to their services, and will no longer even be able to visit their website .
The reason for this? Regulatory pressure in the United States regarding cryptocurrencies , exerted by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and various regulatory agencies. The two co-founders of Samouraï Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, recently paid the price .
Just a few days ago, they were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transfer business. In parallel with the facts directly concerning Samouraï Wallet, the individuals are also accused of having enabled the laundering of more than 2 billion dollars via their cryptocurrency mixer Whirlpool .
At the same time, the FBI published a press release within 24 hours following the arrest of the two co-founders of Samouraï Wallet in order to warn individuals who would like to use applications relating to cryptocurrencies that do not require KYC .
The war waged by American regulators against the various crypto service operators therefore does not seem ready to end . The question is whether the few voices that have been raised against American power, notably that of Coinbase or more recently that of Consensys , will manage to be heard.
