Keep calm and HODL #Bitcoin.
Everyone seems to be overreacting to the Samourai arrests, the FBI PSA, and Phoenix leaving the US. Here's my attempt to break it down.
Samourai
You have to unpack all of the different elements. Could this be a state attack on self-custody and privacy? Maybe. Probably not.
There are a few components here that need to be evaluated on their own.
1⃣ Samourai was a self-custodial wallet
2⃣ Samourai was a mixer
3⃣ Samourai was providing normal people with privacy
4⃣ Samourai were knowingly marketing the service to criminals and flaunting that fact
Reading the charges, it seems like #4 is pretty cut and dry for this case. Their getting arrested for #4, doesn't automatically mean #1, #2, #3 are under siege as well. If Samourai was a taco stand laundering money and bragging about it, I'm sure they would be taken down too.
They may be accused of running a money transmitter now, but that may or may not stick. We'll find out in the trial.
All that said, we should always be vigilant to attempts to erode privacy and the ability to self-custody. It just does not seem that this fight is *that* fight.
FBI PSA
Seems pretty normal that the FBI would advise people to use compliant services, and the entire announcement seems to revolve around potential disruptions due to Samourai being taken down, and potentially others in the future. Given they took action, they have to post some bulletin about it.
Remember that when people lose funds or have funds stolen from them, they do go to the FBI for help. From their point of view, the best thing for people to do is use compliant services where they can potentially help.
The announcement concludes saying that services that purposely break the law will be investigated - so again we go back to #4 above. This is nothing new, and self-custody is not being criminalized.
Phoenix Leaving
As nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m said, it's feels completely unnecessary. Phoenix obviously is not a MSB and they are not doing anything illegal. In my view, their exit from the US app stores is a complete overreaction.
Keep Calm
Could "they" come after wallets, developers, mixers, nodes, LSPs, sidechains, eCash, VPNs, encryption, etc? It's totally possible. But if you're not breaking the law, you have nothing to worry about.
To my knowledge, there is still rule of law in the US, property rights are still protected, and privacy is enshrined in the Bill of Rights (nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu).
It would be very difficult to change the law or stretch it to incriminate these things because it's all just information and software, which is speech. Some will try. But as they are trying, #Bitcoin is becoming more and more mainstream and integral to the world's financial system.
#Bitcoin is freedom technology and it will continue on.
Go outside this weekend and think about why you're here.
"Phoenix obviously is not a MSB and they are not doing anything illegal." lmao topnotch legal analysis right here
The most impressive footage I've seen from today's tornadoes https://video.nostr.build/562501b3f079c1beb820d976f9e3abb25252e2df65e21a5da275c9281ff9e9d5.mp4
Damage reports are still coming in from Nebraska but it looks bad https://video.nostr.build/525bc4b02724645fc5925c4cde78fb4f3e20e1de799193dba2d014face43df63.mp4
Very crazy day in Nebraska today https://video.nostr.build/82d0013e92d0a1d2edb0cefbde578d1379529fe37d4ce375cb8ca3d539f37dc8.mp4
tornado just crossed the interstate 80 Lincoln, NE https://video.nostr.build/55fa886eaeab3d44d31d54038f1862ad0b8213713a8dd09d28e8614d4acd54ae.mp4
I'd be nervous if I were Phoenix, Breez, Muun, Voltage, or anyone else "who engages as a business in the transmission of .... value that substitutes for currency."
If it applies to Samourai, it seems just as applicable to LSPs. Yes, this is a disaster.
nostr:note1g3hd0l6hq3fn2f8ru7gkqjdcapdrv3anw0dxx9y5e0y73hgz7zzsxxe5jr
Here's an example of painful legal analysis I like to do on my free time for some reason (I wanted to see if Samourai could actually be a "money transmitting business" as alleged). According to 31 U.S.C. § 5330(d)(1)(A)-(B) (left), the definition can apply to a "business" that both (1) "engages as a business in the transmission of ... value that substitutes for currency" and that (2) must file a report under 31 U.S.C. § 5313.
But 31 U.S.C. § 5313 (right) simply says that the Treasury gets to say which "financial institution" files a report. The Treasury, I found in 31 C.F.R. § 1010.300, says that "all financial institutions," as they are defined in 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2), must comply with the reporting requirements of subpart C (shown below). Section 5312(a)(2), in turn, shows that a "financial institution" includes "any [] person who engages as a business in the transmission of currency, funds, or value that substitutes for currency, including any person who engages as a business in an informal money transfer system or any network of people who engage as a business in facilitating the transfer of money domestically or internationally outside of the conventional financial institutions system." See 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(R). (So 31 U.S.C. § 5330(d)(1)(A) and (B) circuitously seem to refer to the same damn thing). So this absurdly broad definition would seemingly cover Samourai (as well as all Lightning service providers and miners). Whether or not a "money transmission business" can encompass node operators or wallet providers seemingly depends on the interpretation of the term "engages as a business."
If the statutory basis for the allegation cannot be attacked, I understand it must be attacked on constitutional grounds. At the very least this challenge will likely involve the First Amendment, which is its own complicated area of the law.
And at this point my head hurts. I'm going to switch to reading some sci-fi for now.
https://void.cat/d/RHuKLmSrNsB98Lu6Saahx7.webp
I fucking hate LinkedIn 
How is @SamouraiWallet a "money transmitting business" if users never surrender their private keys? How is there a "transfer" if users retain custody?
Otherwise, why isn't an ISP a MTB? Or a miner? Or a node operator?
Announcing new law by imprisonment is disgusting. 
This is chilling. 
Is there a Nostr client that allows you to tag others? I don't think you can tag on Android for Primal or Amethyst
Why, specifically, is Monero a weaker store of value than Bitcoin?
FYI, "because it's not Bitcoin" is a brain dead response that indicates tribalistic feelings are being substituted for technical understanding of the underlying technologies.
Yesterday wasn't a setback. It was a step forward to the inevitable.
Stay focused, but don't despair. Some of the most beautiful creations were borne under high pressure in adverse conditions.
I'm having a harder time arguing against count one. Constitutional arguments aside, 18 U.S.C § 1956(a)(1)(B)(I) is quite broad:
"Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity—
...
knowing that the transaction is designed in whole or in part—
...
to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity ...."
You can't really argue that Samourai didn't "conduct[] ... a financial transaction" when they collected a fee from it.
If CoinJoins are already illegal, then why did FinCEN see the need to propose rules last year specifically targeting them? https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/10/23/2023-23449/proposal-of-special-measure-regarding-convertible-virtual-currency-mixing-as-a-class-of-transactions?s=09#footnote-75-p72710
How can Samourai Wallet be a "money transmitter" if it merely provides noncustodial software that never accepts or transmits currency? See 31 C.F.R. 1010.100(ff)(5). This could be a more egregious injustice than the Ross Ulbricht case. 
Yesterday: "Miners won't get enough money to secure the network. Bitcoin is dead!"
Today: "The impoverished citizens of Zamunda can't pay for coffee on-chain. Bitcoin is dead!"
Fun fact: Bryan Cranston learned how to skate in less than two weeks for this episode of Malcolm in the Middle. A double was used only for a hand stand and a cartwheel https://video.nostr.build/6b6dd00fd3a49637255b9d79e4fc83fe09fe538280f58ead7cc1ad5f63488787.mp4
I seriously cannot with the neighbors https://video.nostr.build/b5f3e36dd86816a9fbc4c684b747676a465efba002844ca566edadb4cb195587.mp4
I spotted this today and posted it on Insta.
I'm loving the responses from everyone old enough to get it 😂 
Happy Friday, Nostr. It's a beautiful day in Atlanta. 
Where do you disagree? I'm honestly very confused about the differences between Nostr and Bkuesky and your views on each of them.
Your enthusiasm for Nostr is noteworthy given your significant involvement in Bluesky.
Under this bill, you'd have to verify your identify if you have more than 25,000 followers or share "more than 1,000 pieces of AI-generated content." https://reclaimthenet.org/california-lawmakers-push-online-id-verification-bill-that-would-require-platforms-to-id-users-with-large-audiences
How do I politely tell someone their AI art is cringe?
I'll ask ChatGPT
I don't think I'll ever get to 6.25 BTC :(