The cryptocurrency community has discovered that OXT, a Bitcoin blockchain analysis platform acquired by the Samourai Wallet team in December 2017, is no longer operational. The shutdown comes in the wake of U.S. federal law enforcement indictments against Samourai Wallet's two co-founders for alleged money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmission business. On April 27, Laurentmt, co-founder of OXT and a Bitcoin advocate, announced the closure on X with a simple message: “RIP OXT.” When asked if the platform could be revived, he responded, “It appears servers have been taken down.”
OXT’s History and Mission
In December 2017, the Samourai team announced its acquisition of OXT, describing it as a strategic move to democratize access to blockchain analysis tools. At the time, Bitcoin proponent Beautyon commented, “Samourai just acquired OXT. This is highly significant and is exactly the sort of acquisition you would expect rational business owners to make—accumulate complementary, high-quality businesses to create a stellar portfolio.” Samourai’s blog later stated, “We acquired the OXT project in 2017, something we were very proud to do, as we successfully outmaneuvered a known adversarial chain analysis company to secure the property as freely available to the public.” OXT served not only as a block explorer but also as a crucial research tool for identifying transactions linked to major hacks and breaches. It maintained annotations for addresses that traditional explorers had not flagged, contributing valuable literature on Bitcoin privacy. After the platform’s closure, Laurentmt shared a list of archived OXT research posts.
The Legal Storm Surrounding Samourai
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated that the Samourai Wallet founders “knowingly facilitated the laundering of over $100 million of criminal proceeds.” However, crypto and privacy advocates argue the indictment is weak, riddled with errors, and represents an outright intrusion on financial privacy. Following the legal action, all Samourai Wallet online platforms—including its website, blog, and associated tools—became inaccessible to the public. The shutdown of OXT marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing tension between privacy advocates and regulatory authorities. Many in the community fear this case could force more privacy tools out of the market or drive them further underground.
What do you think about the closure of OXT following the Samourai Wallet indictment? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.