What about this meth dealer buying a shitload of mining rigs, then setting up a lovely cloudhashing sideline? The fees would be clean money from clients. He could also BE his own fake clients or at least mine for himself. He could also set it up somewhere safe from interference in a country where the agencies likely to be on his case have no powers.
As for tracing BTC, go on then..someone tell me how much I have in my wallets or where it/they are? I doubt that will be easy.
I don't have the resources of law enforcement. If I did, I think the process would be trivial.
Nor do they. Maybe in the case of some very large important criminal or terrorist they'd find the money to afford it, but as a routine everyday thing ...they can't afford to chase basic bank accounts and all the other places people hide money never mind bitcoins which they may not even have heard of and probably have very little knowledge of.
Life isn't hollywood full of super cops backed by goth girls who can perform technical miracles in five minutes...it's fat 9 to 5 cops who cant find the hoody who nicked your bike most of the time.
The problem here is bitcoin's no longer obscure.
It's been thrust into the spotlight by idiot children picking fights: "I'm an anarchist/tax dodger/money launderer/drug dealer, come at me, brah!"
Once you've baited that 9-5 cop who can't find ur bike, start watching ur ass, 'cos fat cops do not forgive and do not forget
To be fair it's been thrust into the limelight due to irresponsible banksters and the corrupt European Central Bank stealing from Cypriot citizen's bank accounts, with savvy citizens transferring wealth into BTC as a monetary vehicle to avoid the money grab creating a media furore.
The ECB is not stealing from Cypriot citizens, it's stealing from everyone who has net savings in euros (and from anyone trying to save to buy a home) in favour of the banks. The other theft, the deposit confiscation (also in favour of the banks), was the cypriot government.
Personally I wouldn't know about Bitcoin if it wasn't for my forced awareness of the massive moral deficit in the present monetary system. I do believe there is a correlation but the Cyprus effect is totally overblown.
Guys, please move this conversation to another thread/forum?
