Crypto advocacy groups urge dismissal of lawsuits against Bitcoin Mixer Samorai

Two code advocacy groups who were denied an Amicuskyria brief on behalf of the Samourai Wallet this week by a federal judge said. Decryption Along with other organizations, they encourage the firing of lawsuits against Bitcoin Mixers, which operate as illegal remittancers.

In their respective briefs, the Blockchain Association, Coin Center, Defi Education Fund, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute allegedly helped Samourai Wallet carry out financial transactions online without violating US law.

“Privacy is normal. It’s normal for people to want to keep financial transactions chained while maintaining privacy. Decryption.

In April 2024, police arrested Samourai wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Ronergan Hill, and later closed the website. The U.S. Department of Justice claims the app is a “unlicensed money transfer business” used by criminals.

Samourai’s wallet was a Bitcoin Mixing Service– Services that allow people to mask previous crypto transactions – The Fed has shut down last year.

The nonprofit spoke Decryption About their briefs and why they find cases important to the industry.

The Defi Education Fund, together with the Blockchain Association, argued that remittances are invalid as it is out of the sense of law to indict software developers who do not control user funds.

In short, the defendant wrote only the software. Others used it to transfer user funds, but they didn’t deal with money on their own.

Advocacy groups argue that the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (Fincen) has determined that “full independent control over value” is needed for the entity to be the remittance.

“The interpretation of (government) money transfer laws has produced widespread shocks and warnings in the cryptocurrency world, which has long been dependent on clear and correct government guidance.

Peter Van Balkenberg, executive director of Coincenter, also spoke. Decryption The defendant operating the Coinjoin server “did not rise to the level of user fund control that justifies treatment as a sender, including Fincen’s own 2019 guidance.”

Last week, lawyers for Rodriquez and Ronergan Hill Submit App users say they should dismiss the case, claiming they have always been in control of Bitcoin.

Coin Mixing App has made headlines since US authorities Prohibited Americans using Ethereum-based tornado cash in 2022 say criminals used the platform to wash dirty money.

The Feds then alleged that the app’s co-founder Roman Storm and his colleague Roman Semenov had washed more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds.

Politicians frequently spoke about the incident, and Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in America, bankrolled lawsuits claiming that tornado cash sanctions were unfair.

US Treasury Department in March I said It registered tornado cash from a list of parties approved by the Foreign Assets Control Office and by federal court in April. It is forever prohibited The body by reimpose sanctions.

edit James Rubin