>but I'm really quite uncomfortable to see a large financial services company bragging that it defeated government regulatory efforts and its customers can now freely transact with a money laundering service.

You should, but not becuse of what you said but because it's selective application of the Law; for example this is still being upheld [0] as we speak and clearly innocent people are having their lives ruined for using software on something that only until recently wasn't even considered money by the IRS/FINRA et al.

What you should feel uncomfortable with is the weight of a YC backed crypto exchange, ran by one of the most despised members of the community, being able to skirt around the legal system while others who do not have the political or business clout are held to a different standard in what was deemed 'overstepping' it's powers:

> U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruling, so they can't be blocked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control "overstepped its congressionally defined authority" when it did so.

PS: Armstrong represents the most reprehensible aspects of the Bitcoin community, but sadly due to a myriad of reasons (connections to banking and VC world being the top of that list) is now a custodial service for most of the non-self custody clients in this space. I cannot emphasize what a terrible outcome this is, and can only hope some good (like Samurai getting let go) comes from this travesty.

What link is the [0] for, think it’s missing?

I don't think "selective" is really the right way to think about it. The people who wrote Tornado Cash remain in federal custody for money laundering, which I'm pretty confident they'll be convicted of. And anyone who uses the service to do money laundering would presumably be prosecuted as well, if the government can find them. Coinbase has just identified a regulatory loophole to prevent the service from being shut down.

(Is it possible to use Tornado Cash just for privacy? Sure, I guess, but I'm skeptical that many people do. The pooling mechanism makes it inconvenient to use for ordinary purposes with the pretty explicit purpose of helping money launderers.)

What’s your issue with Armstrong? First I’ve heard anyone say he is despised?