I love Charlie Shrem, and I support a right to financial privacy. The whole idea of "money laundering" being a crime precludes a right to financial privacy.
The people who make this kind of stuff illegal are basically from a different planet than me, or a totally alien culture.
They're from planet "we print the money in this town, and we give it to our criminal bankster pals. DON'T GO PRINTING YOUR OWN MONEY BEHIND OUR BACKS YOU FUCKWITS, WE'RE THE FUCKIN MAFIA!"
I think the government wants to prosecute as many people who sold on silk road as possible to make others who sell/make money off other similar sites afraid to do business on those sites.
Exactly, it's not about justice, it's about setting an intimidating example in a futile attempt to scare people away from both dark markets and bitcoin. It won't work.