Ten men suspected of using the digital currency Bitcoin to launder up to 20 million euros ($22 million) of money made from online drug deals have been arrested in the Netherlands, reports Reuters.
Scott Weisman emails:
Once again, as you have emphasized, Bitcoin cannot protect you, and the weak link is needing to get the cash out of the banking system.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-crime-bitcoin-idUSKCN0UY0V8
Bitcoin can't protect you from the all-encompassing totalitarian police state in the US? Is that your point? Well, neither can using dollars. But bitcoin is much safer and easier to transport than dollars and can be much more anonymous if done correctly. "Money laundering" is not a crime, nor is trading plants. This is just an example of how dangerous it is to live in the US, not a crack against bitcoin.
ReplyDeleteHow dangerous it is to live in the US? These guys were busted in the Netherlands.
DeleteVictimless ¨crimes ¨ with no drugs found. They couldn´t track these people until they used bank accts and ATM´s..
DeleteOh yeah, why didn't I think of that. They should have left everything in Bitcoin. Hey, they should have even paid their rent in it. That would be really untrackable.
DeleteThese were online drug sales so Jeff is correctly comparing digitally transferred dollars to digitally transferred bitcoin. For in-person drug sales, anonymous cash of course trumps both, no question about that.
DeleteWhether it is safe to sell drugs online in exchange for digital payments at all is a separate discussion. But if a person decides to do that, Bitcoin is the digital money that has a chance of working. Using digital dollars is a non-starter. I'm guessing these guys were sloppy and unsophisticated in their Bitcoin handling practices.
Willing to pay to see Wenzel debate Berwick
ReplyDelete