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Comment by robzyb | Hacker News Reader

No they wouldn't. Profiting from Bitcoin transfers is a regulatory nightmare. This is because there are no controls to minimise the risk that Bitcoin is being used for money laundering.

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There are also no controls to minimise the risk that in-app purchases are being used for money laundering.

I thought that for money laundering to work you had to purchases with the dirty money items that can be sold for clean money, or exchanged for items that can be sold for clean money (and you also want the transactions on one or preferably both ends to be hard to trace).

What are some examples of in-app purchases that would be good for this kind of thing?

Transferable game items, for example.

The dumb money laundering argument.

If you seriously think regulators care about money laundering, ask yourself why HSBC laundered hundreds of billions of drug cartel dollars, got a slap on the wrist and nobody went to jail.

Money laundering is the new "think of the children" or "terrorists!" bullshit.

It's a legitimate argument.

Regulators DO care about money laundering they have just been completely incompetent at regulating it.

> If you seriously think regulators care about money laundering

I think that WE should care about money laundering.

I think that WE should care about the HSBC situation.

And consequently I think that everyone should care about the potential for Bitcoin to be used for money laundering.

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