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

zkSNACKs, the developer of Wasabi Wallet, has banned U.S. users from using its platform following recent arrests and prosecutions. In a blog update, the team announced IP address blocking for U.S. residents on wasabiwallet.io, api.wasabiwallet.io, and zksnacks.com.

The creator of the privacy-conscious Wasabi Wallet, zkSNACKs, has implemented a restriction preventing American citizens and residents from accessing the service.

Due to recent restrictions announced by American authorities, zkSNACKs has imposed a ban on the usage of its services by users based in the United States. This prohibition includes blocking IP addresses for residents of the U.S., affecting websites such as wasabiwallet.io, api.wasabiwallet.io, and zksnacks.com.

The post discusses an occurrence involving the apprehension of Samourai Wallet’s co-founders, currently facing allegations of money laundering.

The events unfolded after the arrest of Roman Storm, one of the founders of Tornado Cash, on charges of money laundering and sanctions infringement levied by the Department of Justice. It is alleged that Storm and his fellow developer Roman Semenov enabled over $1 billion in money laundering activities through their mixing protocol, with some transactions reportedly linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.