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Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charlie Shrem Arrested On Money Laundering Charge
An anonymous reader writes "Charlie Shrem, the chief executive officer of bitcoin exchange BitInstant, has been arrested and charged with money laundering. 'In the federal criminal complaint, the Southern District of New York charges Shrem, the 24-year-old CEO of BitInstant, with three counts, including one count operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count willful failure to file suspicious activity report. Robert Faiella, a Silk Road user who operated under the name “BTCKing,” was charged with one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and one count money laundering conspiracy.'"
You are making a foolish and false comparison. The government can make owning, using, selling, buying, or transferring bitcoins illegal. If the U.S., China, Russia, and the EU did that, how long would bitcoins be worth anything? What if the U.S. fixed the value of bitcoins at $0.00001 and then prosecuted anyone selling bitcoins for more than that a crime?
No, my friend, you and the rest of the bitcoin fanboys have no imagination as to what could actually be done.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Why is it bullshit? Money laundering is actually a pretty serious problem as it allows people engaged in criminal activity to hide their dirty money. It also isn't just the US that has these rules it is pretty common practise in just about every country in the world for exactly the same reason.