Bitcoin Forum

I was just thinking. Doesn't BitCoin allow money laundering?

Yes, but so does dollars.

I've yet to find a laundry that accepts bitcoins  :D

http://blessbrockport.org/images/laundry.jpg

Any currency that allows you to conduct any kind of business anonymously or without an identifying record can be used for laundering.

This leaves only electronic cash as recorded by banks that require users to register with several forms of I.D. (think Credit & Debit Cards) as the only currency that can in any way identify money laundering.

Cash(Euro, Pound, USD) all allow laundering more easily than bitcoin as they are more anonymous(cash doesn't have a block chain).

The only way to totally prevent laundering is to have every person prove that they legally obtained every penny they have, and that everything they bought was paid for with legal non laundered money. To an extent that should a police officer or person in authority ask, you must be able to provide a receipt for your item they are asking about (tv, car etc.) and the payslip showing you the money you earned to buy it.

Failing to do so would open you up to having those items and money that you have not proved legal ownership of removed from you. It doesn't happen much but it happens, and is legal (at least in Ireland, the Criminal Assets Bureau).

I bet we'll get the blame for a lot of it though. Perhaps though there wouldn't be so much money in breaking the law if the laws were different e.g. there wouldn't be an illegal drug trade if drugs weren't illegal and so on.

Pretty much, a lot of laws have criminalised very normal behaviour, to the extent that there isn't an innocent person living in the world today, there is always some law thats being broken.

For example, a girl was raped on my college campus on Saturday, the college is trying to cover it up(we're in China), there is a law here making it illegal to start or spread rumors, specifically to prevent this sort of thing getting out.

Of course the rumors (which are right) have made criminals of nearly everyone on campus.

With a lot of the new financial laws, it's illegal to give friends or relatives foreign currency for local if you've just come back from holiday and other things.

Having a friend stay over breaks some of the new Bed and breakfast laws (that were created to stop courchsurfing and AirBnB).

People should really think in terms of right and wrong, not legal or illegal (although with regards to the later 2 care should be taken to conceal illegal, but harmless, right activity).

I think it is a valid concern. BitCoin can been seen as cash (anonymous) and is much more convenient to transact with... I'm pretty sure this will be one of the major argument used as soon as the governments will wake up. We better be ready with strong responses.

Like, "Do your worst! Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..."

Seriously, if bitcoin isn't resilient to government regulation, then it isn't what I think it is.

Isn't the response contained in what you just said?  Anything done with BC can be done with cash.   Despite the possibility of laundering, we've been able to live with cash.

it probably isn't (both things)

There are other ways to digitally transfer money anonymously: through your mobile phone (http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/mpayment-a-threat-to-antimoney-laundering-592179.html).

And although I agree with most of the reasons you've listed, it's still the best I've seen so far.

Exactly what do you mean by money laundering?

Turning naughty money into sweet money. If that makes any sense at all!

People have a hard time differentiating between the tool, the crime, and the criminal.

Money laundering is anything the state doesn't want you to do with your money.

Welcome back Atlas :)

Where've you been?

Lurking, my friend. More consumption, less posting.

Related:

Loosely Managed Digital Currency Could Be Avenue for Crime That's Hard to Block
April 15, 2011
By Colby Adams [Alert Global Media, publishers of MoneyLaundering.com]
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5907.0

We'd thought "THEY" had got you.

technically, money laundering would be hiding the source of the money, which is easily done regardless of the currency involved

In the future money itself will be illegal .  :)

Youll get a card issued by the government and anything else will be banned.

At least that is the ultimate destination taking the current situation to its logical extreme.

Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens.

Yep, I remember an article about it during the crisis (when they were thinking about negative interest rates):

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article6531299.ece

Bitcoin is an open source software communication protocol.

Your statement is as ridiculous as saying

"Doesn't TCP/IP allow money laundering?"

because the electronic pipes and tubes of the interweb that carry "laundered money" are mostly likely carried inside TCP/IP envelopes, parcels and packets.

We could could go right down through the communication layers saying the same banal thing about every component of the stack ...

"Doesn't SSL allow money laundering?"

"Doesn't Ethernet allow money laundering?"

Doesn't, doesn't, doesn't does it? It is an empty non sequitur that demonstrates a complete lack of an ability at a logical train of thought, sometimes associated with the clinically insane. Seeing as you are probably a product of the modern nanny state you can be forgiven for demonstrating such tendencies but time is short for you to escape from your self-hewn straitjacket of morally corrupting, vacuous, illogical world-view construct.

I like it ... self responsibility at every level.    

EEEK: my car crashed .. I'll blame the ... the .. the ... dog pooping on the grass .. ya .. it distracted me ... it's a terrorist!!!!!!  see what it did to me.
AH???? you were drunk .. and blind folded .. getting a BJ while picking your nose behind the wheel doing 200KM in a school zone?? .. what did think was going to happen ...????
ya??? but the dog distracted me .. it's a terrorist .. neuter the sucker .. and imprison it's owner for 25 years .. that'll teach'm