ChainCatcher news, after the arrest of the founder of Samourai Wallet, an anonymous team forked the project and named it the Ashigaru open-source project. The Ashigaru team shared their vision, stating: "Anyone should be able to transact peacefully, voluntarily, and privately on the internet without being tracked, monitored, or censored."The project is described as a self-hosted, open-source, and secure Bitcoin wallet. Ashigaru was established months after the U.S. Department of Justice filed charges against the founder of Samourai Wallet, aiming to continue the protection of privacy.Previous news, on April 25, 2024, the co-founder of the crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet was arrested. Prosecutors stated that they are suspected of laundering $100 million from Silk Road and other illegal markets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the Southern District Court of New York has denied Samourai Wallet founder Keonne Rodriguez's request to modify his bail conditions. The prosecution submitted Rodriguez's handwritten "escape preparation" notes as evidence, which detailed travel plans and emergency items. Rodriguez's lawyer argued that this was just a general emergency plan, but the prosecution believes it constitutes an active escape plan.ChainCatcher previously reported, according to The Block, that the co-founder of the crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet was arrested. Prosecutors stated that they are accused of laundering $100 million from Silk Road and other illegal markets. On Wednesday, Samourai CEO Keonne Rodriguez and CTO William Lonergan Hill were charged with operating Samourai Wallet.

ChainCatcher news, a letter submitted on July 3 shows that the U.S. government has agreed to bail out Samourai Wallet developer William Lonergan Hill (also known as TDev). Hill will appear in court next week in New York City and has been extradited back to the country from Portugal.Previously, on May 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) held the first hearing regarding the case of Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill in the Southern District of New York.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the Bitcoin Policy Institute, founded by David Zell and Grant McCarthy, has launched a peer-to-peer rights fund to defend the decentralization of Bitcoin.For Zell, peer-to-peer transactions using non-custodial and decentralized tools are under attack from regulators, who have changed the legal considerations affecting these transactions. The fund states that recent legal cases involving Tornado Cash, Samourai Wallet, Uniswap, and MetaMask indicate a shift in regulators' attitudes towards decentralization, viewing developers as financial institutions.To address the impact of this broad legal interpretation on the non-custodial crypto environment, the fund will focus on providing resources to assist cases that significantly affect the crypto industry, aiming to ensure "critical" legal precedents. Its first case will be the defense of Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, who are accused of conspiracy to launder money and operating an unlicensed money service business.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, expressing "serious concerns" about the Justice Department's expanded definition of money transmission set forth by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.Previously, the Justice Department accused Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash, two cryptocurrency mixers, of operating unlicensed money transmission businesses.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing service Samourai Wallet has been arrested. Prosecutors stated that they are suspected of laundering $100 million from Silk Road and other illegal markets. On Wednesday, Samourai CEO Keonne Rodriguez and CTO William Lonergan Hill were charged with operating Samourai Wallet.Prosecutors indicated that Samourai is an unlicensed remittance company involved in "over $2 billion in illegal transactions and facilitated over $100 million in laundering transactions for illegal dark web markets, including Silk Road." Rodriguez was arrested on Wednesday morning and will face a judge in Pennsylvania.It is reported that Hill was arrested in Portugal, and the U.S. is seeking extradition. Prosecutors stated that Samourai's web servers and domain name have also been seized, and the application can no longer be downloaded from the Google Play Store in the U.S. Rodriguez and Hill are charged with money laundering and unlicensed money transmission, with maximum sentences of 20 years and 5 years, respectively.