Anyone able to tell me the difference between a crypto exchange vs say Ebay selling Pokemon cards?
Can I go to Ebay with my newly created "Fokemon" cards. Sell them to myself for pennies on the dollar in bulk. Generating demand from those thinking "Fokemon" is the new craze, and dump my supply making millions. While EBay lists my "Fokemon" cards to it's userbase while also taking a cut of a large "Fokemon" stash ("ICO"). This happened on MANY exchanges.
Can I go to Ebay and sell 100s of thousands of dollars of merch which was bought with North Korean money? Well you can on many exchanges. Heck some exchanges don't require KYC for the first 1 BTC!!! per 'account'. Ebay does not let the same human seller open tons of seller accounts. In fact there's a black market of Ebay sellers asking 3rd parties to open accounts on behalf of them.
So while there's some similarities, the difference is in respect to money laundering and fraud. Ebay actually tries to enforce both, where-as many exchanges often encourage both.
EBay isn't a payment provider. You can get leverage from PayPal or a credit card company.
>Can you list a new product and buy them from yourself
Yes, it's possible. Why not make ads hyping up your products instead?
>Can I go to Ebay and sell 100s of thousands of dollars of merch which was bought with North Korean money?
Yes.
Which is why PayPal and credit providers are regulated...
It might take a little effort with shell companies, but yes. A long as it's clear they're not Jokemon cards.