CryptoQuant CEO Supports Samourai Wallet Founders Amid DOJ Indictment
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju has come out in support of the founders of Samourai Wallet after they were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly running a crypto mixing service involved in laundering nearly $100 million. Ju defended the privacy-focused crypto mixer, arguing that mixing itself is not a crime and is used by exchanges to safeguard user privacy.
In a recent Twitter thread, Ju stated, “The US DOJ has arrested pioneers in Bitcoin privacy technology. Privacy stands as a core value of Bitcoin. Mixing itself is not a crime. Even crypto exchanges use mixing to safeguard user privacy.”
The DoJ has accused the Samourai Wallet founders, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, of operating a service that facilitated over $100 million in transactions tied to illicit activities. The service, which has handled about $2 billion in illicit transactions since 2015, allegedly generated around $4.5 million in fees.
Rodriguez has been arrested and is set for arraignment in Pennsylvania, while Hill was detained in Portugal and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. The crackdown also involved seizing the Samourai Wallet website and removing its mobile application from the Google Play Store.
Noted whistleblower Edward Snowden also criticized the DoJ’s actions, stating, “The Department of ‘Justice’ has once again criminalized the developers of an app that restores financial privacy. The way to fix this is to make money private by default.”
Human rights advocate Lyudmyla Kozlovska highlighted the capabilities of U.S. law enforcement in detecting financial crimes involving cryptocurrencies, emphasizing that law enforcement agencies have the tools to track Bitcoin transactions on the blockchain.
The FBI recently warned Americans against using unregistered cryptocurrency money-transmitting services, urging them to only use registered Cryptocurrency Money Services Businesses that comply with KYC and AML laws. The FBI conducted law enforcement operations against unlicensed cryptocurrency services, warning that users could face financial disruptions if their funds are intermingled with illegally obtained money.