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Something like 95%+ of bitcoin is related to financial speculation, investing, DeFi etc etc. An order of magnitude of more drugs are sold on Cash App and Venmo

Something like 95%+ of bitcoin is related to financial speculation, investing, DeFi etc etc. An order of magnitude of more drugs are sold on Cash App and Venmo -- which is why they're in rap songs. As for large scale hacking, extortion and ransom, yes bitcoin is used but it is increasing difficult to cash out in a large way.

garbagetime 6y ago
>it is increasing difficult to cash out in a large way It is actually difficult to cash out?
- gruez 6y ago
  I imagine you'd get caught on the off-ramps, since you'd most certainly be reported (by the exchange and/or your bank) to FinCEN. At that point you'd have to contend with the "the money came from bags of cash that just landed in my back yard" problem if federal agents come knocking. As for whether the federal agents will show up at all, I'm not sure. There probably aren't too many criminals who would openly admit that they successfully were able to withdraw their ill gotten gains.
  - bitcoinmoney 6y ago
    Would fincen show up in Russia? And tumblers can hide the source easily. 4m$ is a lot to clean but it’s not impossible.
    - gruez 6y ago
      I was assuming a US-centric view. If it's russia (or any other lax country), all bets are off as you've said.
    - darksaints 6y ago
      Cash can hide the source just as easily. Laundering is the real problem. Yes, even in Russia. Unless you're best friends with an oligarch, and if that's the case, you can always get Deutsche Bank to do it for you.
vmception 6y ago
> bitcoin is used but it is increasing difficult to cash out in a large way. But its not? You can convert 50 million usd worth of bitcoin in one order without moving the market more than 1-1.5% and have a wire transfer to your bank account same day. This happens all day every day, with the markets getting deeper year by year. Trash exchanges for retail have nothing to do with the infrastructure actually out there. If you are moving anything over 4 figures you shouldn't be trying to use retail exchanges. They're trash, slower, randomly flag stuff, and have higher fees.
- jjeaff 6y ago
  What exchanges allow you to move that kind of money?
  - vmception 6y ago
    every trade desk anywhere its been like this for half of bitcoin's existence they consider themselves distinct from exchanges because they do not take custody of people's funds, in their opinion
    - seebetter 6y ago
      As someone who sold Bitcoin on LocalBitcoins, and have 4 friends in federal prison (or detention), plus friends with millions in tainted BitCoin, this is not true. Almost all illegal bitcoin stolen by hackers and ransomware is cashed out in countries with limited or no AML/KYC.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

garbagetime 6y ago

>it is increasing difficult to cash out in a large way It is actually difficult to cash out?

gruez 6y ago
I imagine you'd get caught on the off-ramps, since you'd most certainly be reported (by the exchange and/or your bank) to FinCEN. At that point you'd have to contend with the "the money came from bags of cash that just landed in my back yard" problem if federal agents come knocking. As for whether the federal agents will show up at all, I'm not sure. There probably aren't too many criminals who would openly admit that they successfully were able to withdraw their ill gotten gains.
- bitcoinmoney 6y ago
  Would fincen show up in Russia? And tumblers can hide the source easily. 4m$ is a lot to clean but it’s not impossible.
  - gruez 6y ago
    I was assuming a US-centric view. If it's russia (or any other lax country), all bets are off as you've said.
  - darksaints 6y ago
    Cash can hide the source just as easily. Laundering is the real problem. Yes, even in Russia. Unless you're best friends with an oligarch, and if that's the case, you can always get Deutsche Bank to do it for you.

vmception 6y ago

> bitcoin is used but it is increasing difficult to cash out in a large way. But its not? You can convert 50 million usd worth of bitcoin in one order without moving the market more than 1-1.5% and have a wire transfer to your bank account same day. This happens all day every day, with the markets getting deeper year by year. Trash exchanges for retail have nothing to do with the infrastructure actually out there. If you are moving anything over 4 figures you shouldn't be trying to use retail exchanges. They're trash, slower, randomly flag stuff, and have higher fees.

jjeaff 6y ago
What exchanges allow you to move that kind of money?
- vmception 6y ago
  every trade desk anywhere its been like this for half of bitcoin's existence they consider themselves distinct from exchanges because they do not take custody of people's funds, in their opinion
  - seebetter 6y ago
    As someone who sold Bitcoin on LocalBitcoins, and have 4 friends in federal prison (or detention), plus friends with millions in tainted BitCoin, this is not true. Almost all illegal bitcoin stolen by hackers and ransomware is cashed out in countries with limited or no AML/KYC.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]