2012-12-18 CNN.com Bitcoin looks primed for money laundering

[World]

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/18/bitcoin-money-laundering/

The catalyst for change could come out of places like Iran where crippling sanctions have made their currency collapse in value. If enough "legitimate" users in Iran start to use the system, then the Bitcoin genie could forever be out of the bottle, threatening not only just bank profits, but also the monetary authority of sovereign nations.

[Rudd-O]

Brace for impact...

[paraipan]

Brace for impact...

[davout]

While this doesn't make Bit-Coin Central a bank (as it cannot invest the Bitcoins it holds)

Fucking priceless

[hazek]

Well the corporate media propaganda machine had to do something.. there was way too much positive news about Bitcoin lately   They can't allow the general population to get any crazy ideas like being completely in charge of one's money now can they..  

[Rudd-O]

HSBC and Standard Chartered may have gotten out of the money laundering and sanction-skirting game just in time. Bitcoin, a virtual online "currency," seems to be gaining traction and legitimacy among those who need to transfer or launder their cash outside of the prying eyes of regulators.

"Just in time"?  It's got nothing to do with time.  The reasons those people got away with a crime is because they have power.

[Rudd-O]

Passing money and making transactions outside of normal pay channels has serious repercussions for the financial industry.

Translation from propagandese to What-They-Really-Meanese "People peacefully cooperating without seeking approval from authorities are dangerous and evil."

[Rudd-O]

Indeed, authorities in the US and Europe are already concerned that Bitcoins could soon grow in value and become a major problem.

Translation: "We can't have people competing with us.  That's a 'problem' and we here in the Old Boys' club will surely deal with it swiftly."

I fully understand why Satoshi chose to remain anonymous.

[wtfvanity]

Bitcoins are backed up by, well, nothing,

Comment in the post and comment about the post have me laughing. Bitcoins are backed by nothing. What are the dollar bills in my pocket backed by again? That are constantly losing value when they print more? I'm confused.

[nebulus]

Actually, the genie is already out of the bottle.

[Rudd-O]

Actually, the genie is already out of the bottle.

Never underestimate the willingness of sociopathic lackeys willing to put you in a cage for doing something against their bosses' orders.

[evoorhees]

Well the corporate media propaganda machine had to do something.. there was way too much positive news about Bitcoin lately   They can't allow the general population to get any crazy ideas like being completely in charge of one's money now can they..  

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. - Hanlon's Razor 

[Rudd-O]

"you'll find that Bitcoin users range from the common Iranian on the street, who is worried about inflation, to hit men and drug dealers"

Wow, really objective.  Classifying the "normal" bitcoin user as an Iranian, for whom the average american probably has oodles of sympathy (I am not saying I don't like Iranian people, just that that this isn't the median bitcoin user, whereas the average american would probably be much more sympathetic towards an average (and american) bitcoin user).

In NLP, this is called a "frame".  They're framing Bitcoin users as the demonized people of society, so as to generate popular hate for Bitcoin users.  This makes it easier for the rulers to later invent or lobby for rules and punishments prohibiting or sabotaging Bitcoin and its users.  If Bitcoin was a country rather than a currency, what they are doing here would be very well described as "beating the drums of war".

Now, I'm not suggesting any conspiracy here.  People unconsciously do this very thing all the time.  From a systems thinker point of view, all the people who worked together to produce this slanderous hit piece, are indeed collaborating (consciously or not) to produce a piece of work that is emergent, but looks like a concerted conspiracy.

Still, I can't quite shake the thought that evil is at play here.  What are we to call a person who allows or induces people to lie and defame a good (or, at least, neutral) project and its group of users, if not evil?  How taboo has the use of the word evil become, that not even Hitler gets called evil these days?

[Dalkore]

Passing money and making transactions outside of normal pay channels has serious repercussions for the financial industry.

Translation from propagandese to What-They-Really-Meanese "People peacefully cooperating without seeking approval from authorities are dangerous and evil."

I actually agree 100% with this statement.  You hit the nail directly here.

[oOoOo]

Are we already entering the - "3. They attack you!" - phase??
.

[Rudd-O]

Are we already entering the - "3. They attack you!" - phase??
.

In a few months, the attack will unfold.  They will write more of their holy papers that everyone considers sacred, prohibiting various forms of Bitcoin usage, and they will find a few scapegoats to throw in a cage, to scare the rest of the cattle.

You just wait.

[kiba]

Are we already entering the - "3. They attack you!" - phase??
.

In a few months, the attack will unfold.  They will write more of their holy papers that everyone considers sacred, prohibiting various forms of Bitcoin usage, and they will find a few scapegoats to throw in a cage, to scare the rest of the cattle.

You just wait.

Maybe they're not evil, but are stupid. They sensationalize anything as bad as possible to drive pageviews after all.

[BkkCoins]

HSBC and Standard Chartered may have gotten out of the money laundering and sanction-skirting game just in time. Bitcoin, a virtual online "currency," seems to be gaining traction and legitimacy among those who need to transfer or launder their cash outside of the prying eyes of regulators.

"Just in time"?  It's got nothing to do with time.  The reasons those people got away with a crime is because they have power.

And I doubt very much that the banks have gotten out of the money laundering game. All that happened was they paid a fine (a fee) to ensure they don't get looked at again for some time. I'd bet that HSBC and SC got caught simply because they didn't kowtow to Wall St. powers.

Any sizeable money laundering thru Bitcoin would create huge demand and volatility as the market tried to deal with it. If there is anything going on now it's micro-peanuts compared to HSBC and buddies.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

It's possible the author learned about Bitcoin while conducting research for the following article: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/16/romney-tax-plan/

In his Bitcoin article, he sites that FBI paper. Remember that paper?

[genuise]

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/18/bitcoin-money-laundering/

The catalyst for change could come out of places like Iran where crippling sanctions have made their currency collapse in value. If enough "legitimate" users in Iran start to use the system, then the Bitcoin genie could forever be out of the bottle, threatening not only just bank profits, but also the monetary authority of sovereign nations.

How do you like that pasage about threatening the monetary authority of sovereign nations?

An exelent example of double speak! When big gov threatens monetary authority of another soveriegn nation by sanctions it is just Ok! (ordinary people must suffer hard from inflation) But when Bitcoin does the same (protects ordinary people from any gov) it is bad

Naked King Blindness does not have limits...