4 ms·

It's all language, isn't it? I personally have never done anything remotely morally controversial with cryptocurrency. All taxes paid, no drugs. But I've almo

by throwaway22032 3y ago

It's all language, isn't it? I personally have never done anything remotely morally controversial with cryptocurrency. All taxes paid, no drugs. But I've almost certainly engaged in "money laundering" because it doesn't seem to be a well defined concept. It seems to me that the idea is that normal peer to peer interaction has to be regulated and reported. We need passport scans and logs of previous transactions and all of that stuff. I wouldn't even say that I don't agree with that - I just don't do it. I'm yet to be given a real explanation for why AML and other nonsense should exist beyond "that's just how it is".

theamk 3y ago
I believe that DDOS exthortionists and encryptor malware operators should be prosecuted, and I don't see how this can be done without money tracking with things like AML. (especially DDOS criminals.. they are the reason some sites switch from plain servers to Cloudflare, which is pretty bad for anonymous browsing.)
- deleted 3y ago
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- throwaway22032 3y ago
  I don't see how AML prevents people from producing ransomware. It adds a little bit of friction to everyday users. It's not like the only way to derive benefit from money is to spend it in a regulated manner.
  - theamk 3y ago
    AML prevents people from profiting from ransomware, thus decreasing incentive to produce it. This may not matter much if you are talking about small amounts of money, but ransomware is not small. "I made a $10 million from ransomware and safely spent it on new house and luxury car, with little fear of anyone" is has a very different risk/benefit value from "I made $10 million from ransomware and had to deal with a various illegal dealers to cache it out (who now know my name and the fact I have millions of dollars). And I cannot spend it on new house or luxury car because IRS might get interested". (Granted, it is not perfect, I am sure there people with lots of illegal connections, as well as whole countries without AML laws. But nothing is perfect, and I am sure the AML laws do a great job at discouraging people from becoming cybercriminals)

theamk 3y ago

I believe that DDOS exthortionists and encryptor malware operators should be prosecuted, and I don't see how this can be done without money tracking with things like AML. (especially DDOS criminals.. they are the reason some sites switch from plain servers to Cloudflare, which is pretty bad for anonymous browsing.)

deleted 3y ago
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throwaway22032 3y ago
I don't see how AML prevents people from producing ransomware. It adds a little bit of friction to everyday users. It's not like the only way to derive benefit from money is to spend it in a regulated manner.
- theamk 3y ago
  AML prevents people from profiting from ransomware, thus decreasing incentive to produce it. This may not matter much if you are talking about small amounts of money, but ransomware is not small. "I made a $10 million from ransomware and safely spent it on new house and luxury car, with little fear of anyone" is has a very different risk/benefit value from "I made $10 million from ransomware and had to deal with a various illegal dealers to cache it out (who now know my name and the fact I have millions of dollars). And I cannot spend it on new house or luxury car because IRS might get interested". (Granted, it is not perfect, I am sure there people with lots of illegal connections, as well as whole countries without AML laws. But nothing is perfect, and I am sure the AML laws do a great job at discouraging people from becoming cybercriminals)