Re: [2014-04-02]Ross Ulbricht Lawyer Wants Case Dismissed, ‘Bitcoin is Not Currency’
Not really. You can launder money through potatoes if you wanted. That's not gonna stop them prosecuting you.
It could stop them from prosecuting you for money laundering. From the Cornell Law site:
"Money laundering refers to a financial transaction scheme that aims to conceal the identity, source, and destination of illicitly-obtained money."
That would be a tough argument to make, in a fair court at least, lol. There's certainly enough drug charges to send him to jail though, lol.
Tax evasion could still be brought up also.
Yes, but wasn't he laundering the Bitcoins for cash? I don't image he's been surviving all this time exclusively on Bitcoins.
From what I understand, for it to be money laundering, you must be laundering money. But, according to the IRS, bitcoin is not money, therefore if cannot be laundered. The only folks that could be clearly accused of money laundering in the Silk Road case would be currency exchanges if they knowingly traded fiat for bitcoins with folks who were buying or selling illegal drugs.