Bitcoins
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- Samourai Wallet prosecutors are considering dropping the case against the wallet
- The prosecutors have joined hands with the wallet’s creators to request a time extension to contemplate such a possibility
- The wallet had earlier requested the court to drop the case
Samourai Wallet’s prosecutors have requested a 16-day extension of pretrial motions to contemplate dropping the case against the Bitcoin mixer. The wallet’s developers had earlier asked the court to drop the case, claiming that the U.S. Department of Justice had disbanded the crypto unit tasked with handling such cases, adding that the DOJ vowed not to prosecute crypto mixing platforms. In a joint letter, Samourai Wallet and the prosecutors hinged their move on a memo issued by the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, “ending regulation by enforcement,” which puts the prosecutors in an awkward position when arguing the Samourai Wallet case.
Bitcoins Samourai Counsel Meets Prosecutors
According to the letter, Samourai Wallet’s “counsel met with prosecutors and their supervisor in person at the U.S. Attorney’s Office” on April 24 to discuss dismissing the case. It further stated that the 16-day continuance of the scheduled pretrial motions will save Samourai Wallet “the significant expense of preparing their motions.”
The wallet’s founders, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, were charged in April last year with money laundering and unlicensed money transmitting offenses. The founders were also accused of using the wallet to execute “over $2 billion in unlawful transactions.”
Bitcoins Samourai Wallet’s Website Seized
The allegations against Rodriguez and Hill caused authorities to shut down the Samourai wallet and its website. Samourai Wallet’s case resembles that of Tornado Cash, a crypto mixing service under the feds’ scrutiny due to its alleged use by criminals. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the platform, prohibiting Americans from using it.
The Treasury, however, recently removed Tornado Cash from the list of sanctioned parties, and a federal court prohibited it from re-sanctioning the platform.
With Blanche ending the regulation of crypto projects by enforcement, it’s likely that the prosecutors will drop the case against Samourai Wallet.
Philip Maina Read More