I believe that it also has been stated that advertising indicates that a person is acting as a business.
it appears to be a rather crucial factor, if the case of @BurtW says anything.
If I had never advertised on localbitcoins they would have never been able to claim what I was doing was a business and they would not have been able to arrest me for running a business without the proper license.
prior to today, i had only skimmed that thread. i knew they were stinging localbitcoins advertisers for unlicensed MSB, but i didn't realize federal agents are taking control of highly reputed accounts
and using them to sting customers!
After I was arrested by homeland security the justice department was very interested in taking over my localbitcoins account. As part of the plea deals they offered me they wanted the account so they could use it for undercover operations.
At least some localbitcoins account are run by federal agents, cooperating witnesses or undercover agents in local jurisdictions. That is a fact.
so even if you are careful not to trigger FINCEN's MSB requirements, you still need to be very careful not to agree to anything illegal. if a trader ever mentions the need to conceal illegal proceeds, you're looking at something like this:
if anyone ever remotely suggests they are using you to launder money, don't just walk away.
run! no legit criminal is announcing stuff like that to strangers off the internet. it's a cop.