Bitcoin Forum

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You have cops that send you requests? How do you know that they are cops? I haven't been here in a while, but refresh my memory, it's not illegal, right?

That sucks, how much sales have you lost over this?
And indeed as the previous post said, how do you know that you get trade requests from cops?

You mean like drug dealers? Your wording is confusing me. So selling bitcoins isn't illegal, right?

I've been active on localbitcoins since it started.  I've done many trades with people that I knew were cops, and several trades with people that I thought were probably cops.  So far, it's never been a problem.  Cops are people too, and some of them are very interested in being involved in the bitcoin community.

I used it 2013 quite a bit. I think those were considerably more innocent times on there. Only once was I asked for any ID from a seller. Now it seems to be mandatory.

Oh okay, I wasn't aware that selling to victims of ransomware was illegal. I do hate ransomware with a burning passion though, and I feel incredibly sorry for anyone that's affected by it.

Is buying bitcoins to pay for ransomware illegal as well? It should be, and if it is not then the law is retarded.

I would assume that if it's illegal to sell for that reason, that it's also illegal to buy them for that reason.

How is selling bitcoin to a victim of ransomeware illegal? If they wish to pay to have their files unlocked, that is their own choice, plus sometimes, the economic damage caused by not paying the ransom would be greater then paying it.

Not only that, but just because someone is a victim of ransomeware, does not mean they should be permanently blacklisted from ever buying bitcoin :D It sounds like you are being overly paranoid about who you are willing to trade with.

Chicago.

Illinois.

USA

I've sold bitcoins to (and bought bitcoins from) cops, lawyers, judges, and politicians.

I think he's just talking about the ones in Florida that apparently just try to get you arrested because some cops are dicks.

I am not 100% sure but is sounds like having something to do with facilitating a crime. Just like paying a ransom to ISIS to not chop off the head of your kidnapped family member is technically a crime in the US, but one which is seldom prosecuted because it would make the authorities look bad. On the other hand prosecuting bitcoin dealers on technicalities seems to be the name of the game these days.

Wow. That's an angle i'd never really considered. Are there actual precedents for that?

Can you provide me a link or anything to this being an actual law on the books?
This is important information if true.
I'm not a trader on localbitcoins, but would I be obligated to ask what the bitcoins will be used for, before selling?

Edits: corrected typos

I was under the impression that the Government has actually facilitated the paying of ransom when family members were willing to bankroll the payment of a ransom. I also know that a local Police agency actually paid the ransom on ransomeware.

The only angle that I can think of this being illegal would be if a seller were to charge such high prices above the market (exchange) rate, that prosecutors would argue that the seller is engaging in extortion, however this would only be speculation (and would be a long shot legally IMO).

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I believe he is referring to cops trying to buy from him acting as cops as part of the deal. (e.g. trying to catch him engaging in doing something illegal and collect evidence of such)

I would doubt that the Mayor of Chicago would purchase bitcoin from you acting as the Mayor of Chicago, but would rather buy from you as a private citizen.

There are two problems that the seller can run into.

First, they may be required to have registered with FinCEN as a Money Service Business (MSB).  If they are selling as a business and have not done so, they can be prosecuted.

Secondly, if they are registered as an MSB, they are required to report certain activities to the authorities via a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR).

You can see this in turtlehurricane's post.

i am no longer using localbitcoins anymore for some time now, i don't like the system they have there. it is being abused and as a result the number of scammers is growing there. no i only sell to people who i know and worked with before.

Notice that this type of fuckery only takes place in Florida. We saw a case last year in which a guy got knocked for selling coins for cash in Florida.

Can't really classify this as FUD, but I know several guys that sell for cash and never had any issues, even people who have sold to police.

So moral of the story: stay outta Florida (and now NY) with your coins.

Having to file a SAR is a 5th Amendment violation, especially under an economically totalitarian regime that won't even let a child dispense lemonade from a container into disposable cups they just bought from a grocery store, without a fucking permit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-incrimination#Truthful_statements_by_an_innocent_person

LBC does seem a bit weirder now, especially with all the accounts getting sold and bought it's hard to know whether you're dealing with the same person you dealt with before or some scammer that bought the account and is waiting for his next prey. And I saw some complaints on reddit and elsewhere where LBC froze some funds of some accounts and even after providing the IDs and all they didn't release the funds and I don't know for sure if the people who got their funds frozen were scammers or not (according to LBC they were) but the sound of getting your bitcoins frozen at an exchange sounds scary to me.

Those laws sound really, really stupid, and while I can see where they are coming from, are doing completely the wrong thing. What if some college kid needs to unlock their computer to turn in their final essay, or else they fail the class and don't get their degree? It's still a crime then?

It is if the seller of the bitcoins doesn't report the transaction to FinCEN with a SAR.

LocalBitcoins has always been a "use at your own risk" thing. The fact that paypal is still allowed on that platform is a big "no-no" in my book.

The united states law system is so fucked up. Unbelieveable. So when the little girl of a friend of yours gets kidnapped and you provide the fiat money to help him then you will go to jail because you tried to help your friend.

I will never live in the US... it is way too strange there.

But i think the coin.mx guys should be able to win this case. I mean a good lawyer could convince a jury easily i think.

Most important function of LBC is IMHO rating system. It is still in embryo state and they need develop it further. And may be create a kind of dispute resolution center like ebay has.

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Ugh, ugh ugh.

localbitcoins has been one of the main ways I have gotten BTC (in FL as well).  As a buyer only.  I have always met prospective sellers at a coffee shop or similar (w/ wifi).  I bought via localbitcoins (more accurately, from people I set up meetings with) about six times, only had ONE failed transaction (I did not ask him BEFORE meeting how much of a premium he wanted, and he wanted way too much so i declined to buy).

I can sort-of understand why FL would be a target place for LE...

TPTB must really be gunning for BTC's death.