FINCEN WITHDRAWS ITS 2023 FINDING THAT CRYPTO MIXING IS A PRIMARY MONEY LAUNDERING CONCERN — IT SAYS THE RULE COULD HAVE CHILLED “LEGITIMATE ACTIVITY” — SAMOURAI’S FOUNDERS ARE STILL IN PRISON

FinCEN is withdrawing its October 2023 finding that international mixing of convertible virtual currency, bitcoin included, is "a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern," along with the rule that came with it. The notice was filed for public inspection on October 5, 2026, and publishes October 6.

The 2023 rule would have made covered financial institutions report mixing transactions involving a jurisdiction outside the U.S. that they knew or suspected, with the amount, the mixer used, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, IP addresses and a narrative. FinCEN now says commenters warned the definition was so broad it "could have a chilling effect on legitimate activity." It adds that it "will continue to monitor" mixers and may act again.

Privacy is how cash has always worked. Hand someone a twenty and nobody files a report. The 2023 proposal treated the same idea, on a ledger, as suspect by definition. The regulator now concedes it reached too far.

The rule is gone. The cases aren't. Samourai Wallet's founders were sentenced in November 2025 to five and four years, and both are still in federal custody, with release dates in December 2029 and December 2028. Their case never needed this rule. At the time of this writing, bitcoin was $86,369.