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The moment that crypto is cashed out at a bank, no matter how sketchy, a record is created in a ledger. This completely destroys the so-called anonymity of cryptocurrencies.

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No it doesn't. If I go to an escrow company, transfer my ten million in bitcoin to their wallet and they put money into the bank, the only paper trail is the escrow company.

Escrow companies open and close all the time for this very reason. People wash money alllll day long with US real estate for this reason.

Curious though, if escrow company gets subpoenaed and is a legit business, would they not be inclined to reveal the customer they interacted with?

not every country has a concept of "subpoenaed" especially if it comes from the US veil.

That's fair - I suppose I should have mentioned just the US in my original comment.

Because they open and close all the time. I've dealt with escrow companies where the owners had opened and closed multiple other escrow companies in a ten year span.

Thanks fro the response, that is really interesting. Is there a paper trail if they were to be investigated?

this was about the $5 wrench not about the tracing of it and sure you can know the origin but you don't know the final destination.

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