The Wasabi Wallet supplier, zkSNACKs, declared that residents and citizens of the United States are no longer permitted to use its services.

In the midst of a US regulatory and enforcement crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) wallets, this judgement was made public on April 27.

Notably, one of the most well-liked Bitcoin wallets with an emphasis on privacy solutions is Wasabi Wallet.

"Blocking U.S. citizens and residents from visiting its websites, downloading and using Wasabi Wallet, and any related products and services, including APIs and RPC interfaces," as stated, is what zkSNACKs has started doing as of late.

Anyone having an IP address or passport issued in the United States is subject to the ban.

Following recent declarations from US officials, zkSNACKs is now firmly forbidding US customers from utilising its services. Wasabiwallet.io has implemented an IP address blocking for inhabitants of the United States.

api.wasabiwallet.io, and zksnacks.com.

‘U.S.’ refers to ‘United States’ and includes the several states of the United States and related territories.

If you are a United States Citizen or United States Resident, you are not allowed to visit any sites aforementioned, download Wasabi Wallet or use the Wasabi Wallet coinjoin feature.

This includes if you are a U.S. permanent resident or if you are an individual that holds a U.S. passport.”

Wasabi Wallet

United States war on privacy and Bitcoin wallets

On April 24, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) seized Samourai Wallet’s website and arrested its developers. This is another privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet, a direct competitor to the zkSNACKs flagship product.

Moreover, the FBI issued a warning against what it called “cryptocurrency money transmitter businesses” a day later.

The surprising enforcement action against Samourai, followed by the warning and further court decisions related to Tornado Cash, suddenly raised doubts about what is considered a “money transmitter business,” threatening Bitcoin and cryptocurrency wallets amid regulatory uncertainty.

Consequently, on April 26, ACINQ, a provider of Lightning Network services and the creator of Phoenix Wallet, another Bitcoin wallet, announced its withdrawal from the US.

Soon after, Wasabi Wallet announced that it will be forbidding and blocking residents and nationals of the United States.

Finally, recent law enforcement has resulted in regulatory uncertainty for US privacy service providers and Bitcoin wallets.

This may have an impact on the long-term demand for Bitcoin in the United States since it has forced certain businesses to shut down or prohibit citizens and residents from using their services.