Wasabi Wallet-Developer Blocks U.S. Citizens and Residents After Samourai Wallet Arrests

• zkSNACKs has barred U.S. users from Wasabi Wallet indefinitely.

• The decision is likely due to the recent Samourai Wallet founders’ arrest and the prosecution of Tornado Cash’s developers.

The developer of privacy-focused Wasabi Wallet, zkSNACKs, has banned U.S. citizens and residents from using the platform.

“In light of recent announcements by U.S. authorities, zkSNACKs is now strictly prohibiting U.S. users from using its services. An IP address blocking for U.S. residents is effective on wasabiwallet.io, api.wasabiwallet.io and zksnacks.com,” the team wrote in a blog update.

The incident the post is referring to is the arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet, who have been charged with money laundering.

This all follows the arrest of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, who faces allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations, as the Department of Justice accuses Storm and his co-developer Roman Semenov of facilitating more than $1 billion in money laundering via their mixing protocol, including, allegedly, for North Korea’s Lazarus Group.