United

Silver

Bitcoin

April

Phoenix

<div class="finbold">
 <p class="paragraph">The Wasabi Wallet provider, zkSNACKs, announced it now prohibits U.S. citizens and residents from using its services. This decision came to light on April 27 amid a United States regulatory and enforcement crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) wallets.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">Notably, Wasabi Wallet is one of the most popular Bitcoin wallets focused on privacy solutions.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">As announced, zkSNACKs has started “blocking U.S. <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="citizens" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/citizens.html">citizens</a> and residents from visiting its websites, downloading and using Wasabi Wallet, and any related products and <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="service" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/service.html">service</a>s, including APIs and RPC interfaces.”</p>
 <div class="border border-red-300 rounded-xl p-6 not-prose mb-6">
  <h3 class="text-2xl font-black mt-0 flex gap-x-3 mb-5">
   <svg width="32" height="32" viewbox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="//www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M4 10.6665V25.3332C4 28.2678 6.392 29.3332 8 29.3332H28V26.6665H8.016C7.4 26.6505 6.66667 26.4078 6.66667 25.3332C6.66667 24.2585 7.4 24.0158 8.016 23.9998H28V5.33317C28 3.8625 26.804 2.6665 25.3333 2.6665H8C6.392 2.6665 4 3.73184 4 6.6665V10.6665ZM8 5.33317H25.3333V21.3332H6.66667V6.6665C6.66667 5.59184 7.4 5.34917 8 5.33317Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
    </path> <path d="M15.996 18.6668L20.4626 14.2815C20.738 14.0166 20.9571 13.6989 21.1068 13.3473C21.2564 12.9957 21.3336 12.6176 21.3336 12.2355C21.3336 11.8534 21.2564 11.4752 21.1068 11.1236C20.9571 10.7721 20.738 10.4543 20.4626 10.1895C19.9074 9.64148 19.1587 9.33422 18.3786 9.33422C17.5985 9.33422 16.8498 9.64148 16.2946 10.1895L15.996 10.4801L15.6973 10.1881C15.1423 9.64023 14.3938 9.33301 13.614 9.33301C12.8341 9.33301 12.0856 9.64023 11.5306 10.1881C11.2552 10.453 11.0361 10.7707 10.8865 11.1223C10.7368 11.4739 10.6597 11.852 10.6597 12.2341C10.6597 12.6162 10.7368 12.9944 10.8865 13.346C11.0361 13.6975 11.2552 14.0153 11.5306 14.2801L15.996 18.6668Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
    </path>
   </svg> Picks for you</h3>
  <div class="grid md:grid-cols-2 gap-x-10 gap-y-3 md:gap-y-5 divide-y divide-gray-300 md:divide-y-0">
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    ‘Final warning’ as Bitcoin faces imminent devastating capitulation <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">9 mins ago</span>
   </div>
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    Has Bitcoin topped out? Peter Brandt signals potential end of bull run <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">34 mins ago</span>
   </div>
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    Opportunity? Silver to face historical deficit as industrial demand grows <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">2 hours ago</span>
   </div>
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    Buy signal for Ethereum as gas fees drop to 6-month low <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">2 hours ago</span>
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
 <div class="mb-4 bg-slate-50 rounded-md layout-adjustment">
  <div id="finbold.com_middle" style="min-width: 300px; min-height: 250px;">
  </div>
 </div>
 <p class="paragraph">The prohibition extends to anyone with a United States passport or IP address.</p>
 <blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
  <p class="paragraph">“In light of recent announcements by U.S. authorities, zkSNACKs is now strictly prohibiting U.S. users from using its <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="service" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/service.html">service</a>s. An IP address blocking for U.S. residents is effective on wasabi<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="wallet" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/wallet.html">wallet</a>.io, api.wasabi<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="wallet" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/wallet.html">wallet</a>.io, and zksnacks.com.</p>
  <p class="paragraph">‘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 sites aforementioned, download Wasabi Wallet or use the Wasabi Wallet coinjoin feature. This includes if you are a U.S. permanent resident or if you are an individual that holds a U.S. passport.”</p> <cite>Wasabi Wallet</cite>
 </blockquote>
 <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="958" src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/c4500bc16ed1d0530d8e9ab98b5470d1.webp" alt class="wp-image-172294" srcset="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/c4500bc16ed1d0530d8e9ab98b5470d1.webp 1024w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/c4500bc16ed1d0530d8e9ab98b5470d1.webp 300w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/c4500bc16ed1d0530d8e9ab98b5470d1.webp 768w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/c4500bc16ed1d0530d8e9ab98b5470d1.webp 1266w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
  <figcaption class="wp-element-caption">
   zkSNACKs announcement. Source: <em>Wasabi Wallet</em>
  </figcaption>
 </figure>
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-united-states-war-on-privacy-and-bitcoin-wallets">United States war on privacy and Bitcoin wallets</h2>
 <p class="paragraph">On April 24, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) seized Samourai Wallet’s website and arrested its developers. This is another privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet, a direct competitor to the zkSNACKs flagship product.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">Moreover, the FBI issued a warning against what it called “cryptocurrency money transmitter businesses” a day later.</p>
 <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="987" height="706" src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/28581198ab41d2a43e779bf69b41d0b8.webp" alt class="wp-image-172301" srcset="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/28581198ab41d2a43e779bf69b41d0b8.webp 987w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/28581198ab41d2a43e779bf69b41d0b8.webp 300w, https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2024/04/28/28581198ab41d2a43e779bf69b41d0b8.webp 768w" sizes="(max-width: 987px) 100vw, 987px">
  <figcaption class="wp-element-caption">
   Public Service Announcement. Source: FBI
  </figcaption>
 </figure>
 <p class="paragraph">The surprising enforcement action against Samourai, followed by the warning and further court decisions related to Tornado Cash, suddenly raised doubts about what is considered a “money transmitter business,” threatening Bitcoin and cryptocurrency <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="wallet" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/wallet.html">wallet</a>s amid regulatory uncertainty.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">As a result, ACINQ—a Lightning Network service provider and developer of Phoenix Wallet, another Bitcoin wallet—announced its departure from the United States on April 26. Wasabi Wallet communicated its decision to prohibit and block U.S. citizens and residents right after.</p>
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
  <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Recent announcements from US authorities cast a doubt on whether self-custodial wallet providers, Lightning service providers, or even Lightning nodes could be considered Money Services Businesses and be regulated as such.</p>— ACINQ (@acinq_co) April 26, 2024
   </blockquote>
  </div>
 </figure>
 <p class="paragraph">In closing, recent law enforcement has brought regulatory uncertainties to Bitcoin wallet and privacy service providers in the United States. This has caused some companies to leave the country or block its citizens and residents from using their services, potentially affecting the long-term demand for Bitcoin in the U.S.</p>
</div>
<p>Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/popular-bitcoin-wallet-bans-united-states-citizens-from-its-service-tbt86826.html">https://thebittimes.com/popular-bitcoin-wallet-bans-united-states-citizens-from-its-service-tbt86826.html</a></p>

Popular Bitcoin wallet bans United States citizens from its service

Table of Contents

TheBitTimes

Other articles published on Apr 28, 2024

Top Analyst’s Insights into Most Profitable Cryptos of This Summer

Crypto Headlines Of The Week: Ripple, Binance & Shiba Inu Steal Spotlight

SEC Intensifies Legal Actions Against Crypto Exchanges and Ethereum

Bitcoin Whale Activities See Major Slowdown Impacting Market Dynamics

Io.net responds to GPU metadata attack

DUMA plans to ban crypto exchanges in Russia

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!