Monero is not anonymous anymore as soon as you want to convert to fiat.
I've bought goods and services directly with Monero plenty of times. I've paid invoices that the merchant put in Bitcoin, while using a third party to pay in Monero, which the third party then paid in Bitcoin.
Now in the 2020s I can swap Monero directly to SECRET network, a Tindermint/Cosmos blockchain where all smart contract executions are private (such as the amount and quantity of your erc20-style wrapped Monero), allowing further bridging over to the EVM ecosystem for all the liquid DeFi trading activities, and Tornado cash if desired.
and the times when I use KYC to convert it to fiat, I haven't cared either. I like that the OTC desk or exchange doesn't even receive the address I sent from, much more similar to wiring from another bank account, where the receiving bank can't look at all your prior records and balances at the source of money and just has to assume the other place is compliant. it should be obvious that someone with an illicit source of their Monero will need to reintegrate their value into the broader economy first, so that they can account for it properly. with access to the entire DeFi ecosystem now, that is extremely easy.
all crypto users should restore that level of privacy.
It's certainly going to matter come tax season to businesses which are/will be forced to convert Monero to local fiat.
> I've bought goods and services directly with Monero plenty of times. I've paid invoices that the merchant put in Bitcoin, while using a third party to pay in Monero, which the third party then paid in Bitcoin.
What exactly do you buy with Monero?
There is nothing unique about crypto or monero in that regard, what did you have in mind?
> What are advantages of doing all those steps using Monero instead Fiat? I understand that you can hide your trances but if you buy legits things, who cares?
I had a balance of Monero. It was convenient. Online payments are a lot easier when you don't have to fill in a bunch of information, what "steps" were you imagining? I didn't have to go get Monero, I had already accumulated it. Just like the Miners in the article have already accumulated it, just like anybody earning for Monero by providing a service had already accumulated it.
in any case, compared to attempting to pay with fiat, a crypto payment form typically lacks:
- First Name,
- Last name,
- Company Name,
- Street Address,
- City,
- State,
- Postal Code
- [] Is Billing Address the Same or Different.
- Card Number
- Security Code
- Expiration Date
Similar to how convenient Apple Pay is this decade. Crypto users had that last decade, Monero users had that and less leaking of their finances.
Aside from the pared-down user experience, I also like that the merchant isn't storing all that personal information just to process a transaction, but thats just icing on the cake, not really a motivating factor.
Two decades ago actually, Bitcoin launched in 2009.
its been 8 years now, I guess off the top of my head:
groceries, domain names, registered agent services, compute instances, graphic design, press releases
0: search.marginalia.nu
So looking up
Monero tail emission
might help, but I don't think there is more formal literate that just focuses on that, maybe some enthusiasts in university have something on SSRN
This is really basic stuff. You will never be caught unless other evidence leads them from the original crime to you.
Unless you fuck up it’s not possible to link incoming Moneroj to any specific source, this means that you can fairly easily hide your money laundering activities even from somebody with full visibility into your business.
Unlike criminal law where you are "innocent until proven guilty", in most AML/KYC situations you are "guilty until proven innocent".
I’ve dealt with AML/KYC for cryptocurrency businesses with much higher volumes, nobody ever asked for anything crazy. Just basic accounting, website urls, linkedin profiles.
> You live in some fantasy land if you think you can just say "oh, I just received 100 dollars worth of Monero from 1 million unknown entities, my $100 million is totally legit, fuck off"
I think the only takeaway here is that “323” is too stupid and greedy to survive as a money launderer. Don’t try to cash out $100M in monero at once, live a wonderful life with $5-10M a year.
Were they legit businesses or illegal?
It makes a difference because there's more than just you and the KYC exchanges reporting, and it's survivor bias to assume they appear the same.
> It makes a difference because there's more than just you and the KYC exchanges reporting, and it's survivor bias to assume they appear the same.
Exchanges are usually the least of your problems, it’s the banks.
Even very high risk businesses don’t face scrutiny which isn’t easily overcome when all of your incoming payments are anonymous and untraceable. It’s really not hard to create a fake ecommerce business that would be entirely indistinguishable from a real one.
White collar law enforcement is an illusion, backed by the occasional example.
There are 13k FBI special agents and most have case loads focused on things like "murder" than some e-commerce website with traffic numbers that don't add up.
A one hour cursory look on public clearnet hacking forums will surface hundreds of felonies by people with poor opsec, Feds scroll past them on a daily basis. It's not what they're after.
And no, the IRS has been trimmed to bones for decades, they probably audit <10 laundromats via water and power analysis a year, the same way Apple built literally two iPhone recycling robots (that do a thousand devices a year) but spend millions on marketing.
That's the harsh truth.
Where I live, THC is illegal, and its distribution usually ends with time served.
Interestingly, CBD (more accurately THC-less) stores are everywhere, taking prime locations in city centers, blaring thousands of positive reviews on Google Maps. Their top product is CBD oil (or rather, THC-less cannabis oil). Prices of their products are suspiciously similar to that of their illegal counterparts.
Yet when you pass in front of such stores, there's usually just a single person tending, sometimes with a friend because it gets boring as there's virtually no customer.
It's basically the caffeine pills + decaffeinated coffee product split, where caffeine is illegal.
Following the supply chain would not only find the laundering, but also the distribution and production of a substance considered illegal.
But cops stick to chasing dealers, and the fisc doesn't really chase businesses that seem to pay their taxes.
Second, just obviously spend a little money and time on those things? It’s a minor cost to run shitty ad campaigns.
The business doesn’t need to be good, it just has to look real. Do things a real business would do, except unlike a real business you will have a 100% chance of success.
That's pretty much the whole NFT craze, but without Monero which makes it even dumber.
You pay taxes on stolen gains. The IRS is explicitly forbidden from reporting the gains themselves.
>IRC 6103(i)(1) provides that, pursuant to court order, return information may be shared with law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws.