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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

Needing to pay fees is different from not "giv[ing] a damn about the fees." I understand I have to pay a broker's fee when I buy and sell stock. That doesn't mean I'm indifferent to its level.

Using Bitcoin to surreptitiously move large quantities of funds is almost always riskier and more expensive than traditional money-laundering techniques.

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And how may I ask did you come to this conclusion? Have you ever actually laundered dirty money?

> Have you ever actually laundered dirty money?

No. My knowledge comes from anti-money laundering training.

Depending on how fast one needs to move, money laundering fees go from 5% to 30%. Bitcoin is cheaper than that per se. But include the costs of anonymising and cleanly cash out, and you're just adding cost and risk over a wire transfer between fronts.

No man, there's so much more exposure that way. And remember, this is a criminal enterprise. Those people who run your fronts could just as easily rob/kill you and take it for themselves, and given the chance they will. With bitcoins you can 1) do it yourself, no middlemen other than the bitcoin processor who doesn't give a flying right-hand fuck where the money comes from, and 2) do it far, far, far quicker than traditional methods. A thief isn't going to give a damn about fees, I'm tellin ya, in the end it's all profit for them. Get in, get it, and get out. If I hit a lick for $100k, flip it in a couple days while interacting with not another soul but lose 30k to fees, I'm still up 70k that's a good lick. and if I paid the 30k to not have to deal with ANYONE face-to-face (least of all other criminals) that's worth it in spades because I'm not spending MY 30k, I'm spending YOUR 30k.

> if I paid the 30k to not have to deal with ANYONE face-to-face

How do you propose cashing out? Your cronies aren’t going to want their wages in Bitcoin.

> I'm not spending MY 30k, I'm spending YOUR 30k

Practically speaking, if you steal my money it’s now your money. More money is better than less money. In any enterprise, criminal or legitimate, there are systemic incentives for maximising pay-out.

Conversely, if you steal my money and then interact face to face with someone else in the transaction the money potentially becomes seen as their money and you are seen as an overhead at best. I am irrelevant. You may become irrelevant.

The one thing that’s quite obvious from your posts is that you have a very, very loose grip on basic business and economic principles.

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