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Countries already consider use of a mixer as a possible indication of money laundering, they don't need to strictly outlaw it. When someone tries to cash out c
by paulsutter 9y ago
Countries already consider use of a mixer as a possible indication of money laundering, they don't need to strictly outlaw it.
When someone tries to cash out coins that came predominantly through mixers, the authorities could hold it up and ask the individual to explain. And if they don't have an explanation, the authorities can keep the money. Sure, this sort of enforcement isn't happening yet but it can and it's simple and practical. And I'd be more surprised if it doesn't happen.
Last year I closed a bank account with $11,000 in it, and just for fun I asked for the money as cash. That took a long time, the bank manager got involved and I had to sign a document stating the source of the money. Which is funny because they sure didn't ask when I deposited it. That's the world we live in, and that's where bitcoin is going.
- Frogolocalypse 9y agoAnd if you shift back and forth between entirely different blockchains? Good luck untangling that one.
- EGreg 9y agoHow hard can it be? You can easily get the transactions.
- polyomino 9y agoIt's possible to create blockchains where all of the transactions are undiscoverable by third parties (unless disclosed). Not sure if there are any completely working in practice yet.
- Frogolocalypse 9y agoThere are already several that provide that facility.
- EGreg 9y agoSo they'd be treated same as the mixing services! Bottom line, unless everyone in a community agrees to accept currency X, the external government can shut currency X down by not allowing it to be exchanged for the main one.
- Frogolocalypse 9y agoBottom line is it doesn't matter what a government wants to accept, except for transactions to they are a party. By your logic no one could use money to buy drugs because the government can always just "shut them down."
- EGreg 9y agoThat's different. Governments put pressure in exchanges. Mixing services are blacklisted first. Then you can track all the money again and thus no more laundering is possible. Look at China! They cracked down on Macau caisnos for money laundering so now all they need is to crack down on bitcoin mixing.
- Frogolocalypse 9y agoJust today i exchanged bitcoin for litecoin on a website called shapeshift.io that anonymously matches up buyers and sellers, through a vpn, and the service doesn't even require a login. I can just as easily exchange back with a different seller at some point in the future. Explain to me exactly how you think you're going to curtail that?
- Frogolocalypse 9y ago> How hard can it be? Depending on the blockchain, somewhere between infeasible and impossible. In order to even start that process you would require a method to track every miner that signs every block on every blockchain. That would be effectively impossible.
- SilasX 9y agoSimilar experience at a pawn shop. One time I wanted to buy some equipment that came together as a package deal, but I didn't need one item in it So, I asked for the price on the bundle without that item. They said they couldn't unbundle it... but I could pawn the one item back that I didn't want. Fine, a stupid policy but whatever. Except that I also had to do the full standard procedure for pawning an item: show ID, sign a statement attesting to legal ownership and the source of the item, and receive payment in cash, separate from my purchase ... even though the source of the item was their very shelf!