Privacy is not a crime.
Yet when it comes to the crypto industry, projects and coins that enable users to tread lightly on-chain are facing higher levels of scrutiny than ever before.
In 2024, government-led efforts to combat the use of coin-mixing services continued apace as developers behind Bitcoin Fog, Tornado Cash, and Samouri Wallet all faced challenges in court. Meanwhile, so-called privacy coins faced hurdles as some exchanges stopped supporting them.
With Bitcoin’s pioneers drawing inspiration from the Cypherpunk movement, privacy and crypto have been intertwined since the industry’s beginnings as a means of internet-based resistance.
But that link, rooted in skepticism of governments and big banks, showed signs of fraying…
