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This seems to me like the US government is just getting started regarding Bitcoin exchanges. Government authorities always move slowly, and usually go after the

This seems to me like the US government is just getting started regarding Bitcoin exchanges. Government authorities always move slowly, and usually go after the most egregious cases first. This reminds me of the US arrests that occurred regarding overseas poker sites when their executives got pulled off a plane that was making a stopover in the US en route to Central America. This sort of thing does make you wonder if any Bitcoin exchanges and their employees can ultimately avoid US charges of money laundering?

TacticalCoder 13y ago
Yes it's not unlike what happened with Poker sites but... Pokerstars, who had its Pokerstars.com seized (for a few weeks IIRC) by the FBI/DoJ is still, today, raking million of dollars daily in rake (and tournament fees) totally legally (and often with business deals with brick'n'mortar casinos) in nearly the entire world... Except the U.S.! Should the U.S. decide to "start a war" against bitcoin just like they did with Poker, we'd end up in the same situation: servers outsides of the U.S., not using .com domain names, without the reach of the U.S. I'm pretty sure that any Bitcoin exchanges outside the U.S. (like MtGox, BTC-E, Bitstamp... which are the three biggest ones) and their employees are shielded from U.S. laws. If they can't extrade Snowden out of Russia, I don't see how the U.S. could reach the BTC-E russian Bitcoin exchange. The U.S. have been unable to stop online poker worldwide. Should they try to stop bitcoin worldwide, they'd fail too. Now that said I don't think the U.S. government is going to ban bitcoin or to go on a crusade against bitcoin. At least I hope not.
- andyakb 13y ago
  None of the servers for Pokerstars we in the US, and none of their bank accounts were either, however the DOJ was still able to seize those accounts. The US is not trying to stop online poker worldwide, they are trying to stop online poker sites from offering their services to US customers. The major charges against Pokerstars were bank fraud and money laundering. If those crimes occur in the US, the DOJ does not care where you are based.
- smsm42 13y ago
  Don't get too optimistic. They'll get there eventually, just as they are getting there with international money transactions. There was a time when keeping money in Swiss bank was a sure way to hide it from US authorities. Not anymore.

TacticalCoder 13y ago

Yes it's not unlike what happened with Poker sites but... Pokerstars, who had its Pokerstars.com seized (for a few weeks IIRC) by the FBI/DoJ is still, today, raking million of dollars daily in rake (and tournament fees) totally legally (and often with business deals with brick'n'mortar casinos) in nearly the entire world... Except the U.S.! Should the U.S. decide to "start a war" against bitcoin just like they did with Poker, we'd end up in the same situation: servers outsides of the U.S., not using .com domain names, without the reach of the U.S. I'm pretty sure that any Bitcoin exchanges outside the U.S. (like MtGox, BTC-E, Bitstamp... which are the three biggest ones) and their employees are shielded from U.S. laws. If they can't extrade Snowden out of Russia, I don't see how the U.S. could reach the BTC-E russian Bitcoin exchange. The U.S. have been unable to stop online poker worldwide. Should they try to stop bitcoin worldwide, they'd fail too. Now that said I don't think the U.S. government is going to ban bitcoin or to go on a crusade against bitcoin. At least I hope not.

andyakb 13y ago
None of the servers for Pokerstars we in the US, and none of their bank accounts were either, however the DOJ was still able to seize those accounts. The US is not trying to stop online poker worldwide, they are trying to stop online poker sites from offering their services to US customers. The major charges against Pokerstars were bank fraud and money laundering. If those crimes occur in the US, the DOJ does not care where you are based.
smsm42 13y ago
Don't get too optimistic. They'll get there eventually, just as they are getting there with international money transactions. There was a time when keeping money in Swiss bank was a sure way to hide it from US authorities. Not anymore.