It turns out that a lot of surprisingly impactful criminals never really figure out how to launder their money. Ulbricht appears to have had no real plan for ho

It turns out that a lot of surprisingly impactful criminals never really figure out how to launder their money. Ulbricht appears to have had no real plan for how to actually benefit from his criminal proceeds, instead enjoying the feeling of being 'bitcoin rich' whilst living an unremarkably lifestyle. Paul LeRoux seems to have also been a bit like that, albeit more successful at the laundering part. Nonetheless, when he was finally caught it turned out most of his wealth was in the form of precious metals under physical guard, and IIRC there was some sort of dispute over theft. The anti-money laundering system has some questionable tactics in it: it grants virtually unchecked power to regulators and the US Treasury to squash whoever they like for whatever reason they like, and those powers were badly abused under the Bush administration. Think punishment without trial for people who criticised Israel, stuff like that. However it's an evolved system that does appear to raise the bar to serious organised crime.