Blow to anonymity – Coinjoin is a method of anonymizing transactions on the Bitcoin network. This consists of mixing the inputs of several transactions in order to blur the link that can be made between sender and recipient. To protect itself from illicit transactions that could go through this service, Wasabi Wallet has announced tougher terms of use.
Wasabi wallet declares war on launderers
Wasabi wallet is a Bitcoin wallet specializing in Protection of private life of its users. To do this, the wallet offers various anonymization services such as Coinjoin.
In practice, this solution is mainly used by users seeking privacy protection. However, this is also used by malicious users looking for a way to launder funds. Thus, several hackers have already used this solution to cover their tracks following their attacks.
Faced with this phenomenon, Wasabi wallet has announced that it is starting to blacklist certain addresses, identified as “linked to illegal activity”.
“We try to protect the company and the project by reducing the number of hackers and scammers who use the coordinator and cause us problems. », said one of the developers.
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In its announcement, Wasabi Wallet said the coordinators zkSNACKs will be able to block certain transactions. As a reminder, these validators are the operators responsible for ensuring the mixing of bitcoins.
In practice, these will be coordinators operated by Wasabi Wallet who will perform this blacklisting. For their part, the other network coordinators, operated by other players, will not be affected by these restrictions.
While this marks a step back from Wasabi Wallet’s pro-privacy stance, there will always be alternatives for users using other coordinators.
The founder of Wasabi Wallet, Adam Fiscor nevertheless admitted that this blacklisting was “a major setback for the fungibility of Bitcoin”.
Indeed, until now, these restrictions were reserved for centralized trading platforms. However, in the face of growing regulatory threats, the company behind the wallet is doing everything possible to protect itself legally.
Thankfully, some good news has surfaced for advocates of the Bitcoin network. Indeed, the European MiCA law aimed at banning cryptocurrencies in proof of work was finally rejected.
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