Inside a $30 Million Cash-for-Bitcoin Laundering Ring in the Heart of New York \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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Inside a $30 Million Cash-for-Bitcoin Laundering Ring in the Heart of New York www.404media.co/inside-a-30-million-cash-for-bitcoin-laundering-ring-in-the-heart-of-new-york/

1268 sats \ 15 comments \ @k00b 20 Oct 2023 bitcoin

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200 sats \ 1 reply \ @nerd2ninja 21 Oct 2023

The men allegedly violated the law in that they are not a registered or licensed money transmitting business.

Look aiding and abetting I get, but money transmitting means they took someone's money and facilitated in its transmission. Buying and selling Bitcoin should not fall under money transmitting because no money is transmitted!

133 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 21 Oct 2023

Yeah it sounds like they were an in-between rather than selling their own bitcoin.

The investigation started in around April 2021 when the FBI identified a vendor on multiple dark web marketplaces who offered a service to ship cash via the U.S. Postal Service in exchange for Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @elvismercury 21 Oct 2023

This is a reach, but is there such a thing as "intro to money laundering"? It's such a fascinating topic, but every time I come across something that teaches me something they are super sparse on details, because they don't want to give the bad guys ideas. (As if the fucking bad guys need ideas.)

The most interesting thing I've read about is money laundering by selling in-game items in MMORPGs, since there's no physical product that needs to be accounted for. But would be interested to read more about this topic.

210 sats \ 2 replies \ @TheBTCManual 21 Oct 2023

I love it, never bet against people's ability to trade and seek out a profit for a service. What a bunch of legends, we should have groups like this in every city around the world, it would make life so much easier, especially in the cash-heavy economies

The more they push KYC on people and the costlier it becomes to comply as an exchange, then I'm sure both in-person and online p2p premiums begin to look like an attractive option.

I hope that nostr and classifieds help encourage more of this, be it cash to bitcoin or cash/bitcoin for goods and services and let the circular economy keep growing.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @0fje0 21 Oct 2023

we should have groups like this in every city around the world

There may well be such groups in other cities already, even if not yet at the same scale as in this story.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheBTCManual 21 Oct 2023

Probably, just would be nice if we could encourage more of it and grow it somehow,

10 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 21 Oct 2023

Wow! This is some story.

66 sats \ 3 replies \ @k00b OP 21 Oct 2023

It's a fun one. $50 bills is a weird denomination. I feel like I haven't seen more than tens of them in real life - even having been a grocery clerk for a couple years.

https://www.404media.co/content/images/2023/10/bitcoin-exchange-5.png

50 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 21 Oct 2023

Yes. I didn't see them much as a cashier either.

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b OP 21 Oct 2023

Maybe 50s are the new 20.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @shyfire 21 Oct 2023

Yes especially since good wrenches are now $50

12 sats \ 0 replies \ @om 21 Oct 2023

US gov: promised to redeem dollars for gold but rug pulled the whole planet in 1971 These guys: provided useful service honestly, never rug pulled anyone

Clearly these "laundering ring" should judge and imprison the US government rather than the other way around.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b OP 21 Oct 2023

Often the participants used a token system, where they would send one another the serial number of a specific bank note beforehand, and then flash that note on arrival to verify they have met with the right person, a common tactic in money laundering circles.

Does anyone understand how this works? They show up and the token is wrong, what happens?