The creator of Wasabi Wallet, zkSNACKs, announced on the Wasabi Wallet website on April 27 that U.S. citizens are no longer permitted to use its services.
The prohibition applies immediately to all citizens and residents of the United States, including those who hold a U.S. passport or permanent status. U.S. users will consequently be unable to access websites like zksnacks.com, api.wasabiwallet.io, and wasabiwallet.io.
Wasabi Wallet’s Response to Regulatory Pressure
In a statement, zkSNACKs said that its websites and services—including the Wasabi Wallet and its associated RPC interfaces and APIs—were no longer accessible to US persons and citizens. In response to growing regulatory scrutiny from US authorities, the company modified its service, following the lead of numerous other cryptocurrency platforms in doing so. “Recent announcements by U.S. authorities” was the reason given by the corporation for the change.
U.S.” refers to “United States” and includes the several states of the United States and related territories. If you are a United States citizen or United States resident, you are not allowed to visit any of the of the sites aforementioned, download Wasabi Wallet, or use the Wasabi Wallet coin-join feature. This includes whether you are a U.S. permanent resident or if you are an individual who holds a U.S. passport.
zkSNACKs, Wasabi Wallet developer
This action taken by zkSNACKs is in line with comparable actions taken by other Bitcoin service providers. For example, Phoenix Wallet announced that on May 3, it would cease operations and withdraw its app from US app stores. The developer of Phoenix Wallet, ACINQ, advised against forcing customers to close their wallets to halt further price increases. Rather, it advised US clients to remove their money from their wallets.
Due to worries expressed by US government representatives regarding possible regulation of self-custodial wallets, Lightning service providers, and Lightning nodes, ACINQ pulled Phoenix Wallet from US app stores.
The latest charges brought by federal authorities in New York against the founders of Samourai Wallet demonstrate the growing intensity of the campaign against Bitcoin wallets and services. The indictment serves as a springboard for a larger enforcement campaign by US authorities that targets Bitcoin mixers and wallets involved in questionable practices. It claims they engaged in illicit activities totalling over $2 billion.
The revelations have sparked discussion among fans of cryptocurrencies. Proponents of Bitcoin claim that the right to privacy is consistent with its core values. The US market for Bitcoin services is changing significantly due to increased regulatory pressure, necessitating adjustments to business practices and negotiations with changing legal environments for companies such as zkSNACKs.
