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The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

ft.com

31–40 of 236 posts

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#31

I think I've read more stories on bitcoin laundries than actual laundries... suprising given how long it has been around.

Here’s a little story to help balance the ratio https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article...

Here is the exact same URL without Google's AMP:

https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/wansho-laundry

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#32

Why go through all that trouble when regular banks already launder cash for you.

Do explain, because I don't believe you actually know how banks work. Banks will flag up dubious transactions - uncommon large ones, frequent smaller ones, a sudden stop or start in transactions, etc. They've got big fraud (and money laundering) prevention teams on there, currently using machine learning to detect suspicious activity. I mean there's bound to be laundering going on via banks, but it's risky. Heard abo…

If he couldn't show the trace then no bank should've let him really: were I live, you have to show where fiat->crypto accused and how you got that fiat. Then you have to show how the crypto became worth more (that can just be a wallet address IN and wallet address OUT between the times it went from the fiat amount you started with until the time it became what you are trying to transfer to the bank). But that's all; few screenshots, even for large amounts. I guess if you are trying to send over more than a million, you might want to get some people to help you anyway. Also; always call your bank upfront to explain what will happen; that can prevent a freeze or reject if you got in ahead.

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#33
post #13

I can tell one of the ways that is missing in the article. Let's say, you have a lot of Bitcoins and your buddy is a bitcoin miner. You craft your transaction such a way that you put all your coins as transaction fee. You send your transaction only to your buddy. Your buddy picks it up and solves the puzzle afterwards. Fees will be converted to brand new coins.

Brand new coins, but wouldn't they still look suspicious if the block's coinbase is outlandishly large?

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#35

Probably easier for any serious criminal to just deal in cash and make deposits at the big banks, they have a long history of taking cartel money.

Drug dealers and such probably yes. Sending 10 mio USD ransom across the world in cash would be much harder, but is so much easier in cryptocurrencies.

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#36
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to send out transactions without sending them to the mempool?

yes, you can email it to your miner buddy. it's possible to spot such transactions if they violate transaction forwarding rules (aka standardness rules) but not consensus rules. for example, a transaction greater than 100kB is not standard but still valid.

I've build a tool to detect differences between _my local_ mempool and what miners include in their block (there will always be slight differences). This is primarily intended to detect censorship, but can also detect transactions that never entered _my_ mempool.

See https://miningpool.observer

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#37
I am fascinated by the rise of 'chain analysis' companies - that started as 'aint it fun' and became 'hey we can help the cops track ransomware' quite quickly.

The thing that fascinates me is ... we could do (very similar) analysis on "normal" bank accounts - on a much larger scale but still.

I wonder how much criminal activity would be revealed?

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#38

Why go through all that trouble when regular banks already launder cash for you.

Do explain, because I don't believe you actually know how banks work. Banks will flag up dubious transactions - uncommon large ones, frequent smaller ones, a sudden stop or start in transactions, etc. They've got big fraud (and money laundering) prevention teams on there, currently using machine learning to detect suspicious activity. I mean there's bound to be laundering going on via banks, but it's risky. Heard abo…

>Heard about one guy that tried to get his Bitcoin winnings onto his regular account, his bank wouldn't accept it because they couldn't verify its source. Of course, he managed to open up an account at another bank who accepted it without question, and transferring it to his main account from that bank was also done without question, so it's not exactly consistent.

You nailed it here without noticing it: you just use the right bank(s) in the right countries, and then just shuffle and move money around.

I'm pretty sure there are organizations dedicated to set up these operations.

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#39
post #14

I get that money laundering is always linked to criminal activity, but how have we always just accepted the lack of personal privacy when it comes to finance? Privacy is a feature, not a bug; and whilst crypto may not be the way forward, I hope one day we can reach a solution that has both privacy and also safety. The language used by law enforcement is quite alarming, it suggests that they should be privy to ALL tra…

I understand your point. However, privacy cannot shield one from tax and legal obligations.

It is not just the proceeds from criminal activities, but also tax evasion (from the rich or companies) and terrorism financing.

Re: The rise of crypto laundries: how criminals cash out of Bitcoin

#40
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah unless your buddy is a mining pool, I don’t follow how that would work as well.

Yup, for Bitcoin it would mean having the mining power of a big pool, indeed.

No, just a secret block that isn’t broadcast to everyone. 1 block a week is plenty to pull this off and that’s just 1/1,000th of the worlds mining power. Unless you get really unlucky and the block fails to enter the block chain letting someone else gets credit for the transaction.
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