Aztec responds to claims FTX froze user funds for interacting with the protocol

Crypto reported that FTX had frozen person accounts as a result of they interacted with Aztec Community. Aztec has now responded to the claims by reiterating its core values and confirming that it “is not going to be passive in stopping illicit habits.”
Additionally documented by Wu Blockchain, the accusations of FTX customers having their accounts frozen got here from a sequence of tweets from a handful of accounts. The legitimacy of the account suspensions was mentioned in an earlier article right here on Crypto.com. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried responded however neither confirmed nor denied that any accounts have been frozen.
To be clear–that is getting garbled. We’re consistently monitoring transactions for AML compliance, and do enhanced due diligence on sure transactions, however that doesn’t imply that any accounts have been frozen. https://t.co/FVOGHUa4TJ
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) August 19, 2022
Aztec additional commented that it’s engaged on a sequence of enhancements that can “virtually get rid of the power of unhealthy actors to maneuver stolen funds by means of Aztec.” These embody deposit caps, rate-limiting, pending deposit caps, and modifying the “escape hatch window.”
The upgrades will consequence within the following updates to the Aztec Community:
– Gradual the speed of deposits and withdrawals
– Make it simpler to establish at-risk addresses
– Stop illicit customers from sidestepping Falafel, the open-source implementation of Aztec’s rollup
Not like different web3 protocols, which have both needed to shut down or abide by U.S. sanctions, Aztec have taken a unique method. The community argues that it “restricts habits, moderately than people.”
Sensible deterrence makes the community illiberal of illegitimate use in a credibly impartial means:
It restricts habits, moderately than people.
It’s proactive, moderately than reactive.
It’s measurable, moderately than counterfactual.— Aztec (@aztecnetwork) August 19, 2022
The community declared, “if our community is used to hurt customers, we’ve failed our mission.” It additionally confirmed “working with companions to establish these utilizing stolen funds and unmask them utilizing publicly out there info *exterior* of the Aztec system.”
At a troubling time for blockchain-based privateness, Aztec ended its Twitter thread with a poignant message,
“If privateness is outlawed, solely outlaws may have privateness.”