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> Getting around capital controls seems to be a niche for Bitcoin Q: If you pitch up in, say, Canada or Australia, and offer to buy a chunk of expensive real e

> Getting around capital controls seems to be a niche for Bitcoin Q: If you pitch up in, say, Canada or Australia, and offer to buy a chunk of expensive real estate and pay with Bitcoin, who is selling? Q2: ... or do you have to convert to AUD/CAD first, and if so, which bank(s) can you rely on to not worry about KYC? Q3: ... or do you have to actually travel to Canada or Australia first, in order to open a regular bank account first, in order to have somewhere to move your Bitcoin to, in order to have local currency, in order to be able to pay the local seller?

retrac 6y ago
I do know that people have transacted real estate in Bitcoin in Canada before, mostly as a gimmick, but no reason you couldn't do that legally on the Canadian end. But I assume one would convert to CAD. What's the problem with KYC on the Canadian bank end? Canada has no such controls and wouldn't care that the money was laundered out of Argentina. Even if you had to do that, laundering the funds into Canada unfortunately does not seem it would be difficult in practice, given the apparent scale of money-laundering associated with the Vancouver housing market. And you do not have to be physically present to acquire property in Canada.
- logifail 6y ago
  > laundering the funds into Canada unfortunately does not seem it would be difficult in practice Is this true only if you're sufficiently under the radar, or does it still hold true no matter how big/famous/wanted a criminal you are? EDIT: see https://www.step.org/industry-news/canadian-citizens-challenge-fatca-enforcement-will-be-further-appealed https://www.step.org/industry-news/canadian-citizens-challen... and https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/guidance-directives/client-clientele/1-eng https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/guidance-directives/client-... ??
  - retrac 6y ago
    Of course some people get caught. (Though some of what I'm describing wouldn't be considered illegal under Canadian law in the first place. You can just buy property with BTC here if you have BTC.) Still, it's a huge problem: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cullen-commission-money-laundering-bc-1.5583300 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cullen-commi... https://globalnews.ca/news/7593419/bc-casinos-too-dangerous-cullen-commission/ https://globalnews.ca/news/7593419/bc-casinos-too-dangerous-...

retrac 6y ago

I do know that people have transacted real estate in Bitcoin in Canada before, mostly as a gimmick, but no reason you couldn't do that legally on the Canadian end. But I assume one would convert to CAD. What's the problem with KYC on the Canadian bank end? Canada has no such controls and wouldn't care that the money was laundered out of Argentina. Even if you had to do that, laundering the funds into Canada unfortunately does not seem it would be difficult in practice, given the apparent scale of money-laundering associated with the Vancouver housing market. And you do not have to be physically present to acquire property in Canada.

logifail 6y ago
> laundering the funds into Canada unfortunately does not seem it would be difficult in practice Is this true only if you're sufficiently under the radar, or does it still hold true no matter how big/famous/wanted a criminal you are? EDIT: see https://www.step.org/industry-news/canadian-citizens-challenge-fatca-enforcement-will-be-further-appealed https://www.step.org/industry-news/canadian-citizens-challen... and https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/guidance-directives/client-clientele/1-eng https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/guidance-directives/client-... ??
- retrac 6y ago
  Of course some people get caught. (Though some of what I'm describing wouldn't be considered illegal under Canadian law in the first place. You can just buy property with BTC here if you have BTC.) Still, it's a huge problem: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cullen-commission-money-laundering-bc-1.5583300 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cullen-commi... https://globalnews.ca/news/7593419/bc-casinos-too-dangerous-cullen-commission/ https://globalnews.ca/news/7593419/bc-casinos-too-dangerous-...