Free market... "No person shall, except with permission granted by the Treasury and in accordance with such conditions as the Treasury may impose — take out of the Republic goods, including personal apparel, household effects, and jewellery which have a value in excess of 600 Rand (approx $40) or of such greater amount as the Treasury may determine;"
We’re all criminals now
31–40 of 110 posts
Re: We’re all criminals now
#32The point of crypto currency is to do the exact thing money laundering laws try to prevent: to transfer large sums of cash untraceably across the globe, with no way for the government to do anything about it. Recently it's become a game of baseless investment, but anyone actually wanting to use crypto currencies as payment should've seen this coming from miles away.
According to Chainalysis, in 2020 only 0.35% of crypto transactions were associated with illicit activity.
Cash is still king when it comes to crime. Crypto can help make it harder for criminals.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is that different from an asset in a bank account? What matters who controls the access to it.
They can compel the bank directly, no one can "force" the blockchain do to anything that's not programmed to do.
> can compel the bank directly, no one can "force" the blockchain do to anything that's not programmed to do
This doesn't work with banks outside a court's jurisdiction. That doesn't stop enforcement.
We already have tools that informally designate tainted versus untainted wallets. Incorporating that into the law wouldn't be that difficult nor, I suspect, controversial.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#34The point of crypto currency is to do the exact thing money laundering laws try to prevent: to transfer large sums of cash untraceably across the globe, with no way for the government to do anything about it. Recently it's become a game of baseless investment, but anyone actually wanting to use crypto currencies as payment should've seen this coming from miles away.
> The point of crypto currency is to do the exact thing money laundering laws try to prevent No. That's not the point of cryptocurrency. > to transfer large sums of cash untraceably across the globe Wrong again. You can trace all transactions across the globe with cryptocurrency. > with no way for the government to do anything about it Why is that a bad thing?
> Why is that a bad thing?
It was decided it was a bad thing when the US coerced the rest of the Western world into the war on terror. If you are not with us, you are against us etc.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#35The point of crypto currency is to do the exact thing money laundering laws try to prevent: to transfer large sums of cash untraceably across the globe, with no way for the government to do anything about it. Recently it's become a game of baseless investment, but anyone actually wanting to use crypto currencies as payment should've seen this coming from miles away.
It's not just money-laundering laws. It's also more general "financial repression", i.e. being forced to hold local currencies while the government inflates them and/or holds the interest rate down. The two tend to blur into each other, I guess.
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Re: We’re all criminals now
#36> And by the way, this exact rule is the reason many South African startup founders incorporate in Delaware instead of locally, because it is extremely difficult to attract foreign investment if the investors know they will not be able to get the return on their investment (or share of the IP) out of the country again. Except that in the USA you also need to declare transfers over $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Serv…
Yes, but "declare to the IRS" is not as bad as "anything over $40 is banned".
Exactly, even a smartphone is worth over $40. Personal apparel is usually not worth 10 grand.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#37The point of crypto currency is to do the exact thing money laundering laws try to prevent: to transfer large sums of cash untraceably across the globe, with no way for the government to do anything about it. Recently it's become a game of baseless investment, but anyone actually wanting to use crypto currencies as payment should've seen this coming from miles away.
Yes, let's be real. The vast majority of people who use cryptocurrencies for payments use them because they have no legal alternative. It's the same problem that all privacy focused technologies "suffer" from. When the law is wrong then you have no choice but to break the law but there is no way to distinguish people escaping from an oppressive government and people laundering money from criminal sources. The oppress…
when the law is wrong
Yes, although on a volume basis money laundering for criminal (as in organized crime) is likely much larger than refugees fleeing their country & attempting to take some of their money with them.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is that different from an asset in a bank account? What matters who controls the access to it.
They can compel the bank directly, no one can "force" the blockchain do to anything that's not programmed to do.
They cam force the those who control access to specific assets on the chain to do something in the exact same way they can force a bank to do something.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#39The point of crypto currency is to do the exact thing money laundering laws try to prevent: to transfer large sums of cash untraceably across the globe, with no way for the government to do anything about it. Recently it's become a game of baseless investment, but anyone actually wanting to use crypto currencies as payment should've seen this coming from miles away.
The main interest of governments to ban crypto currency is to levy taxes and have more information on citizenry.
Also to maintain control of monetary policy.
Re: We’re all criminals now
#40Just remembering what someone from the trade directorate of the EU told me a some years ago about Bitcoin: "If it starts to have a real impact on the ability to collect taxes and control money transfers we are simply going to make it illegal".
Except by then the cat is out of the bag and significant % of the population/institutions holds it and you can't hurt your own population without swift opposition. It's pretty clever if it works out.
The inversion of monetary control is the biggest reason my mind boggles that governments haven't clamped down harder.
The only explanation I can come up with is that institutional banking / government regulation is so stodgy that they haven't played out the decade+ repercussions.
Because after viable value is established, it's going to be a hard genie to put back in the bottle.
It's much harder to make something that appears to have value, not. Than it is to keep something that appears to not have value, not having value.