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"why do the states need to monitor financial transactions?" I hate the "terrorism" BS as much as you, but money laundering and large-scale scamming ( https://n

"why do the states need to monitor financial transactions?" I hate the "terrorism" BS as much as you, but money laundering and large-scale scamming ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6972139 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6972139 ) are actual threats.

hershel 13y ago
I wonder: with the power of the NSA and the right laws ,maybe it's really easier to track and control bitcoin transactions than control international banks?
- hendzen 13y ago
  That's actually a legitimate concern, which is why people are working on CoinJoin [0]. ZeroCoin and other cryptographic solutions are very interesting but will not be practical for a while due to blockchain bloat and extremely high verification time. [0] - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=279249.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=279249.0
smokeyj 13y ago
> but money laundering and large-scale scamming are actual threats. Yes, banks launder drug money for cartels. Without the state, who would slap their wrists?
- username223 13y ago
  I guess you're trying to be snarky or clever here, but I don't get your point. Maybe you can walk over to your local BofA branch, slap someone's wrist, and feel good about yourself?
  - MarkPNeyer 13y ago
    HSBC knowingly laundered billions for violent drug cartels, and were fined a mere 5 weeks of revenue. None of the executives involved in this went to jail. Meanwhile, people's lives are ruined for selling or even possessing small amounts of harmless drugs. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/hsbc-judge-approves-1-9b-drug-money-laundering-accord.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/hsbc-judge-approves...
pyvpx 13y ago
like the kind HSBC did in plain sight for over a decade with essentially zero repercussions (the fine was barely enough to break out of 'cost of doing business' territory, so please don't bother with the largest settlement in history uselessness)? but yeah...bitcoin is bad! cuz...bad people!

hershel 13y ago

I wonder: with the power of the NSA and the right laws ,maybe it's really easier to track and control bitcoin transactions than control international banks?

hendzen 13y ago
That's actually a legitimate concern, which is why people are working on CoinJoin [0]. ZeroCoin and other cryptographic solutions are very interesting but will not be practical for a while due to blockchain bloat and extremely high verification time. [0] - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=279249.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=279249.0

smokeyj 13y ago

> but money laundering and large-scale scamming are actual threats. Yes, banks launder drug money for cartels. Without the state, who would slap their wrists?

username223 13y ago
I guess you're trying to be snarky or clever here, but I don't get your point. Maybe you can walk over to your local BofA branch, slap someone's wrist, and feel good about yourself?
- MarkPNeyer 13y ago
  HSBC knowingly laundered billions for violent drug cartels, and were fined a mere 5 weeks of revenue. None of the executives involved in this went to jail. Meanwhile, people's lives are ruined for selling or even possessing small amounts of harmless drugs. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/hsbc-judge-approves-1-9b-drug-money-laundering-accord.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/hsbc-judge-approves...

pyvpx 13y ago

like the kind HSBC did in plain sight for over a decade with essentially zero repercussions (the fine was barely enough to break out of 'cost of doing business' territory, so please don't bother with the largest settlement in history uselessness)? but yeah...bitcoin is bad! cuz...bad people!