Who need bitcoin to launder money when you have...

[BCB]

...the 500 EURO note  - AKA  the "Bin Laden"



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-19/500-euro-bill-lifts-crime-terror-tax-risk-bank-of-italy-says.html

[aigeezer]

I just read a Coindesk newsletter on the same topic.

"As for the smaller fry, well, the biggest boost of late has been the 500-euro note. Nicknamed the “Bin Laden”, because everyone knows what they look like but nobody’s ever seen one, you can get ten thousand of them into a briefcase small enough that even Ryanair won’t charge you excess baggage. In comparison, BTC looks as wholesome as fifty pence in a church collection: another worry to be put firmly on the back burner."

"The authorities" look even more ponderous than usual in these articles. Their overall response to crimes they can't prevent is to inconvenience everyone everywhere as much as possible, "just in case".

[Sukrim]

You obviously never heard of the 1000 Swiss Francs bank note, eh?

[BCB]

I had not...

[Sukrim]

It's been around far longer than the Euro and the world did not go down in chaos either...

The only problem with using BTC for laundering money is that you will have a hard time buying and selling lots of them in a short timeframe. Being limited to less than 12 million units atm. doesn't help either...

Once there is depth in the market and moving a few millions of USD in or out is not causing complete crashes or doubling the current price AND if there are actually some places where you can trade and receive these amounts (good luck in getting any serious amount of money from MtGox) then it might be useful for laundering. Currently tax evasion might be slightly useful, but even then I guess the paper trail is still far too large and there would be probably more established and more useful ways to do this using traditional banks and currencies.

[hf]

I had not...

Well, this one was issued in 1976. I'm not even sure bank still accept these.

Current 1'000CHF (= 1075USD, 816EUR) banknote is this one :




and it's pretty common around here. I got a waiter friend who's getting paid with one of these at the end of the month. People aren't suspicious about these in switzerland. I never heard of fake ones anyway.

It's funny when you think about it. First time I realized it was that much money was when an american friend of mine visited switzerland. He was really worried about his 5CHF coins, he feared to lose some, saying 5CHF is too much money for a coin. Which makes sense, since it's a coin worth more than 5USD, and swiss' smallest banknote is 10CHF.

[domob]

What's strange about 500 euro bills? We had 1000 Guilders bills before (about 450 euro). Anything above 50 euro is seldom used though and not accepted at most places besides banks. No ATM I've been to in the Netherlands has ever spit out anything above a 50 euro bill.

Actually, I would say anything above 100 EUR.  At least in Austria it is very common to get 100 EUR notes from ATMs, and they are accepted anywhere without any problem.  Higher denominations (200 and 500) are not so commonly used, but I've already paid somewhat expensive things with them and never had any problems.

[pedrog]

They can always use this:



Much smaller... 

[threeip]

2 gallons ~= 7.5lt.

[countryfree]

The article is flawed because it mixes 2 very different issues. The first one is about money laundering and the second is about the underground economy. Bitcoin and large bank notes are good for the second, but not for the first. Excuse-me, but if you go to any bank in the world with a suitcase full of cash, you will look very suspicious.

[hf]

2 gallons ~= 7.5lt.

You forgot to mention the biggest problem with your solution, opposed to suitcase filled of 1'000CHF banknotes : weight.

2 gal of gold = 146Kg = 5.691 million CHF = 5691 * 1000 CHF = the said suitcase, much lighter

[SgtSpike]

The article is flawed because it mixes 2 very different issues. The first one is about money laundering and the second is about the underground economy. Bitcoin and large bank notes are good for the second, but not for the first. Excuse-me, but if you go to any bank in the world with a suitcase full of cash, you will look very suspicious.

Isn't the key about money laundering that you DON'T go straight to a bank?  I.e, you give it to your car-wash owning friend to handle, who then slowly trades them for the notes that the customers bring in, and deposit the 100's as revenues while giving the smaller untainted notes back to the one wanting the laundry done?

[threeip]

A Learjet can carry about 3,000kg of cargo...

Bitcoin would be a much better alternative to all of the above  
'correct horse battery millionaire'

... slowly trades them for the notes that the customers bring in, and deposit the 100's as revenues while giving the smaller untainted notes back to the one wanting the laundry done?

Yep... or don't get paid in $100's in the first place!

[Rez]

They can always use this:



Much smaller... 

I think the fact that they have a security strip in them is ADORABLE.

[Rez]

Current 1'000CHF (= 1075USD, 816EUR) banknote is this one :

It looks like a photocopier test-page, a bit.

[legitnick]

...the 500 EURO note  - AKA  the "Bin Laden"



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-19/500-euro-bill-lifts-crime-terror-tax-risk-bank-of-italy-says.html

Whys it called the "Bin Laden"

[pedrog]

...the 500 EURO note  - AKA  the "Bin Laden"



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-19/500-euro-bill-lifts-crime-terror-tax-risk-bank-of-italy-says.html

Whys it called the "Bin Laden"

(...) Nicknamed the “Bin Laden”, because everyone knows what they look like but nobody’s ever seen one, (...)

[hf]

Current 1'000CHF (= 1075USD, 816EUR) banknote is this one :

It looks like a photocopier test-page, a bit.

In fact, it is. It's the very reason why swiss people are rich : their photocopiers print 1'000CHF banknotes as test-pages.

[threeip]

Whys it called the "Bin Laden"

(...) Nicknamed the “Bin Laden”, because everyone knows what they look like but nobody’s ever seen one, (...)

Except a few high-level members of Al-Q and the CIA

HEYYYY-OO

[sneef]

Forget about 500 Euro or even 1,000 CHF.

Singapore prints a $10,000 note









That is about $5970 EURO or more than 10 times the amount of the "Bin Laden" 500 Euro.

AFAIK these are still printed and in circulation, it has a hologram on it so this is certainly not a antique note.