On what planet do men think writing messages like these is actually a good idea

SDNY may have just dug its own grave in the Samourai Wallet case. Last week, prosecutors argued that they had not violated the law by failing to disclose conversations with FinCEN, in which senior staff made clear that SW did not need an MSB license in their opinion. Arguing to moot the defense's request for a hearing on remedies, SDNY argued that, due to the overturning of Chevron, FinCEN's opinion on "ambiguous law" didn't matter, making a crucial mistake now highlighted by the defense: Prosecutors are not allowed to bring criminal charges based on ambiguous laws, which should always be decided in the defendant's favor. Full story:

The Rage

Samourai Wallet Responds To SDNY's Moot Request

Last week, SDNY claimed it hadn't violated Brady by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence. The defense disagrees.

This week's newsletter is out: Stablecoin Bill fails in Senate, news says Spain introduces 3k withdrawal limit, other news say that’s not true also: everything on Samourai Wallet & Tornado Cash, Financial Services Committee drama, OCC clears banks for Bitcoin, three new strategic reserves passed, Tether integrates Chainalysis Subscribe for free or read all issues online:

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Rage Weekly 019: Death To The Dollar

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SDNY just responded to Samourai Wallet disclosure of withheld evidence: "There is no basis for a hearing, nor is there anything to remedy." Insanity.

RIP Legende

Every time I have to file my invoices, btc goes up. Every time I have to spend money, btc goes down. Can devs do something

This is the scariest book I have ever read in my entire life. Palantir co-founder Alex Karp calls for what can only be described as a new national socialism – a society in which we need to define a new "national project" guided by the streamlining of culture, religion, and education into a conform blob directed by the Government and tech elites to combat what he describes as the biggest problem facing the US today: diversity of opinion. Read it so you'll know what's coming.

Courts are dismissing charges following Todd Blanche's memo ordering the Department of Justice to stand down in cases involving cryptocurrencies where the law is ambiguous. Meanwhile, SDNY is attempting to send three developers to prison for *decades* for a crime not even FinCEN knew existed. The only point of the Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash prosecutions is to rewrite the law. It was illegal then, and it certainly is illegal now. Full story:

The Rage

Districts Dropping Blanche Memo Cases, SDNY Still Won't Comply

A New Jersey District Court has dismissed unlicensed money transmission charges in response to last month's Blanche memo. It's not the only one.

SDNY just got a criminal division chief who has previously specialized in prosecuting narcotics trafficking, sanctions enforcement and money laundering. Interesting times ahead.

Indiana just dismissed unlicensed MSB & money laundering charges against AurumXchange operator Maximiliano Pilipis bc he couldn't be held liable for a crime he didn't know he committed due to a lack of FinCEN guidance. I'm no lawyer, but SDNY should finally do the right thing and dismiss charges against SW & TC given that FinCEN has acknowledged that its guidance does *not* address the functional control arguments made against the devs – just like Maximiliano, neither SW nor TC could have known that they may have made themselves criminally liable for a charge that prosecutors appear to have completely pulled out of their asses.

Breaking: ***SDNY suppressed exculpatory evidence in Samourai Wallet case*** Filing reveals FinCEN told Samourai Wallet prosecutors that SW would not qualify as a Money Service Business, six months prior to arrests SDNY went ahead and arrested them anyway, acknowledging that it would be "a difficult argument to make" in internal communications Defense is now seeking a hearing to discuss remedies for SDNY's conduct, including the dismissal of charges Full story ⬇️

The Rage

FinCEN To SDNY: Samourai Wallet Did Not Need MSB License

A recent filing suggests that Samourai Wallet prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence, revealing that FinCEN told SDNY that the developers likely...

This week's newsletter is out: France bans mixers and privacy coins, EU bans privacy coins from exchanges, data protection board says you gotta delete your blockchains

The Rage

Rage Weekly 018: Banning Anonymous All The Things

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Nightmare blunt rotation

Yesterday, a story by CoinDesk went viral alleging that SDNY was considering to drop the charges against Samourai. My guys. If SDNY *wanted to*, they could drop the charges today. Unfortunately, the "Sovereign District of New York" does not give two shits about what the Justice Department thinks of its prosecutions. These guys have gotten suspended, they've resigned, and publicly criticized DOJ decisions when they didn't feel like acting on them. It's been *weeks* since Blanche sent out the memo ordering DOJ to stop prosecuting developers, and they're *still thinking about it*. Agreeing to exclude the time they are taking for their consideration is not a sign that the charges will actually be dropped. Don't stop fighting until William and Keonne are free. Full story 👇

The Rage

SDNY vs. DOJ: Samourai Wallet Caught In Crosshairs

The "Sovereign District of New York" could drop the charges today, if they wanted to.

Since people are so ardent at pointing the finger at Bitcoin for money laundering, I thought I'd make some merch for The Rage that points the finger back. What do we think fam, am I gonna get sued or am I gonna get sued

Elliptic just published a new report on how cartels use cryptocurrencies to launder drug proceeds, and I have a few questions. First, if you, an unbiased person, take a look at the above graphic by Elliptic, do you come to the conclusion that "unhosted wallets" are what enable cartels to launder money through cryptocurrencies? Or could it be that the actual problem is that cartels still somehow manage to deposit their cash in the financial system, despite extensive AML/CFT frameworks imposed on banks? Secod, if these frameworks are already exploited by cartels, can you outline precisely how imposing these same AML/CFT regulations on "unhosted wallets" would stop cartels from exploiting them – and not just impose unproportionate burdens on the average user? Given what Elliptic has outlined in their newest report, lawmakers should be extremely wary of relying on for-profit marketing materials to inform their decisions, and keep in mind that the expansion of AML/CFT frameworks to "unhosted wallets" would drastically enlarge such firms' addressable market, constituting a clear profit motive – while likely doing nothing to stop actual crime. Full story:

The Rage

New Elliptic Report: Are "Unhosted Wallets" Really The Problem?

Lawmakers should be wary of relying on for-profit marketing materials to inform public policy.

NO MORE SANCTIONS ON TORNADO CASH If you haven't been following the US Government's attacks on Tornado Cash closely, you may have missed that the Treasury attempted to retain the power to re-list the software on OFAC's sanctions list after de-listing it last month. Yesterday, a Texas District Court ruled that the Treasury is not allowed to re-list Tornado Cash, as it overstepped its authority by placing the software on the list in the first place. This is the final nail in the coffin. Long live Tornado Cash 🌪️

The Rage

Court Bans Treasury From Sanctioning Tornado Cash

The Treasury attempted to retain the power to re-list Tornado Cash on OFAC's sanctions list after revoking sanctions on the software last month.

Texas District Court just banned the Treasury from putting Tornado Cash back on OFAC's sanctions list. Major win for privacy.

The European Data Protection Board says if you can't anonymize transactions on a blockchain, you have to delete the blockchain. Funny, since they've spent the past 10 years trying to make software that does exactly that illegal.

Newsletter: SBF gets a prison upgrade, FTX advisor sworn in as SEC chair, stablecoin wars in full swing, ECB says crypto apocalypse is coming, and more news from last week Subscribe for free or read all issues online:

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Rage Weeky 017: SBF For Treasury 2028

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