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1. Embed this notice
   cjd (cjd@pkteerium.xyz)'s status on Thursday, 25-Apr-2024 18:06:14 JST cjd
   Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin privacy service, has been shut down and its founders arrested! 😱
   
   A Bitcoin-only noncustodial CoinJoin service, Samourai gave users privacy by allowing them to coordinate with other users to mix their funds to break the transaction graph.
   
   To the best of my knowledge (obviously I don't know all the details), they did nothing wrong! Simply operating a privacy protocol that allows users to strengthen their own privacy should not be a crime!
   
   This continues to set the horrible precedent that the Tornado Cash arrests began, criminalizing the development of open-source software.
   
   Is all privacy in crypto now under legal threat? 😬
   
   I don't think so. But the fact that I don't know for sure anymore is concerning.
   
   Taking a step back, though, let's look at some of the things focused on in this case to see if we can find a common thread. Remember, many privacy protocols, including the Zcash team, has not fallen victim to anything like this (yet).
   
   According to the DOJ, Samourai:
   
   🕵️Was a company-like entity (profited)
   🕵️Explicitly provided services for privacy
   🕵️Operated infrastructure directly
   🕵️Openly advertised to criminals
   🕵️Had criminal activity traced to the service (including sanctions evasion, which the US war machine particularly doesn't like)
   🕵️Evidence founders knew about this
   
   Judging from the Tornado Cash case, as well as the SEC going after Uniswap, it seems like the "It's noncustodial and open-source" loophole doesn't work anymore:
   
   If you operate like a company, run infra/front-ends like a company, take profit like a company, you probably will get targeted!
   
   Of course, the sad part in all this is, we don't actually know how for sure how to develop crypto while staying out of jail! This is just speculation (and definitely not legal advice, before someone comes at me).
   
   We should be able to develop privacy tools without fear of prison. But that's not the reality of 2024.
   
   In the meantime, probably the best route is to bake privacy directly into the protocol, without segregated third-party apps or smart contracts run by teams who can be explicitly targeted and accused of laundering.
   
   Privacy by default is the way!
   
   If the core protocol inherently lets users be private, and it has many legitimate uses, it's much harder to make the case for laundering or anything criminal by the developers.
   
   But just in case, open-source privacy devs should probably stay outside of the US and western Europe, and stay as anonymous as possible.
   
   We're building the free financial system of the future. We are doing nothing wrong, but this is inherently a threat to the powers that be! We can try to make sure we stay fully legally-compliant. But we're never going to be 100% sure.
   
   Sad day. Free
   @RealRossU
   , free
   @alex_pertsev
   and the Tornado Cash crew, free
   @FTL_Ian
   , now free
   @SamouraiWallet
   
   @SamouraiDev
   .
   
   Privacy is normal, and a fundamental human right.
   • on-lain ✔ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     :blobcatflower: (methyltheobromine@netzsphaere.xyz)'s status on Thursday, 25-Apr-2024 19:11:04 JST :blobcatflower:

     in reply to

     • 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖟𝖎𝖊
     @ic3l9 @cjd ngl everyone affected by "ransomewhere" deserves it like do backups don't use windows and don't just click on the penis enlarger links...
     snacks likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖟𝖎𝖊 (ic3l9@team.bepis.racing)'s status on Thursday, 25-Apr-2024 19:11:05 JST 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖟𝖎𝖊

     in reply to
     >uhm money laundering only works with cash, duh
     >for this minor definition reason asscoin mixing is not money laundering
     >the evil goobermints are le tracking le money
     >you're just one of those anti-privacy big government nutjobs
     
     BINGO!
     
     get fucked ransomware enablers, your "future of finance" has been taken over by criminals and it just gets more embarassing the more you deny it.
   • Embed this notice
     cjd (cjd@pkteerium.xyz)'s status on Thursday, 25-Apr-2024 19:11:06 JST cjd

     in reply to

     • 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖟𝖎𝖊
     Money laundering is the conversion of ill gotten gains into something which looks like legitimate income.
     
     For example, if you have a bunch of cash, you can't buy a house with it because you're going to have to explain your source of funds.
     
     So running a cash-only business with a lot of "customers" is a way you can turn cash into justified business income. That is money laundering.
     
     HOWEVER, if you have a bunch of cash, and I have a bunch of cash, and we decide to exchange notes because don't like the government tracking us by scanning the serial numbers on them, that is NOT money laundering. If your cash was unexplained before, it's still unexplained after.
     
     Calling crypto privacy tech money laundering is a nOtHiNg To HiDe take. Don't defend the surveillance state, it makes you sound like a loser.
   • Embed this notice
     𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖟𝖎𝖊 (ic3l9@team.bepis.racing)'s status on Thursday, 25-Apr-2024 19:11:07 JST 𝕾𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖟𝖎𝖊

     in reply to
     @cjd do you understand the concept of money laundering and why it is considered a crime by normal people