Hacker News Reader

Comment by jjeaff | Hacker News Reader

Properly implemented "Laundering" services for crypto currency can make follow-the-money effectively useless.

The funds are transferred to a wallet, they are mixed with many other coins, and then they are paid out in different sized transactions to the recipient.

Assuming you have a busy enough pool, it should be technically untraceable.

View on HN

Honestly, it seems like you’re trying to make it sound like a device one would use exclusively for scamming.

The poster was replying to a comment discussing traceability by the FBI so he can hardly be blamed for the topic.

Not exclusively - it is also used for extortion, laundering money, and paying for illegal goods and services.

Sounds like something where if you offered that as a service you would probably be legally required to Know Your Customer and to keep records...

These services does not require manipulating real money. To run the service, it requires a device connected to the internet, that all. You can find a lot of way to host it in a country that don't have these requirements, or to host it anonymously.

Mixers are now a target for law enforcement though, just so you know.

I know, but you can easily do a service on a decentralized service really hard to shutdown, anonymously.

Until you want to make it into useful things and then the IRS will be asking how you bought that car and where the money came from. If it came from a laundering pool of bitcoins, tough luck convincing anyone you didn't do money laundering.

Just like giant corporate balance sheets?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com