Samourai Wallet Developers Take A Plea Deal
And The Jurors In The Tornado Cash Trial Continue To Deliberate
On Thursday, the founders of Samourai Wallet, a non-custodial bitcoin mixing service, took a plea deal, pleading guilty to one of two counts on which they were indicted.
I was in the courtroom as they pled guilty, and wrote about the details of the hearing and the plea deal in piece for Bitcoin Magazine this week:
I know some in the Bitcoin community are bummed that the developers pled guilty. I was bummed at first, too.
However, upon learning more, I think that they made the best possible decision for themselves.
They were facing up to 25 years in prison, and, as per the plea deal, they’re now only facing five.
For those nervous that their pleading guilty sets a bad precedent, please understand that accepting a plea deal is not the same as being found guilty via trial.
No case law precedent has been set in this scenario.
That said, it does feel like a blow to movement for transactional privacy, and it sucks to see the Samourai guys have to give in.
The Jury Deliberates In Tornado Cash Trial
Speaking of the transactional privacy legal cases, the defense in the Tornado Cash trial has rested and both the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments on Wednesday.
Now, we must simply wait to see what the jury decides.
The twelve members of the jury spent all day on Thursday deliberating and will continue deliberating come 9:30 AM EST on Monday.
It’s anyone’s guess as to when they’ll issue a verdict.
While we’re waiting, if you’d like to understand the charges brought against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm — especially the conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter business charge and the corresponding legal code, 18 U.S. Code § 1960, please check out my interview with the executive director and chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund, Amanda Tuminelli:
(Amanda is a complete boss. Watch the episode, and LEARN SOMETHING!)
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Combatting Transnational Financial Repression
Speaking of complete bosses, I was excited to have my interview with Open Dialogue Foundation president Lyudmyla Kozlovska published this week:
In the interview, Lyudmyla spoke about how authoritarians are weaponizing financial surveillance, something she’s personally been the victim of in her work as a human rights activist, and how she has been fighting back.
We also discussed how KYC/AML regulations are being misused to target dissidents, freeze aid, and enable global repression.
Finally, from overreach by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to the real risks of digital ID and surveillance-based compliance, Kozlovska outlined how Bitcoin is becoming a tool of last resort for civil society under siege.
(On a personal note, Lyudmyla is one of the most passionate activists I’ve ever met and the work she’s doing to push back on surveillance and censorship is absolutely monumental. Be sure to check out this interview — it’s only about 10 minutes long.)
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Speaking of making efforts to be surveilled less, take your bitcoin off of the exchange you have it on — the one that’s KYC’d you for your personal information — and hold it in a non-custodial wallet like the Trezor Safe 3, a great starter bitcoin wallet:
(Stop hesitating and get your coins off of the exchange — it’s easier than you think.)
Markets
This week, bitcoin’s price behaved like I predicted it might last week — it chopped sideways for a bit and then slightly decreased in price.
RSI dipped pretty low, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the price begin to rebound from here.
While I don’t think we’re going much lower in the near term, we could retest $108k in the coming week (though, this doesn’t seem likely).
That’s all for this week.
Just got in from hot yoga and trying to maintain those tranquil vibes as I close the week out.
Here’s to a wonderful week ahead!
Big love and big hugs.
Best,
Frank
Nostr: npub1dnzzyhmewrzkh862z7z2shwmhh5htx0rvkagepj2fkgst9ptwg3qj4x52h
