Tag Archives: money laundering
Top Bitcoin News Last Week: Mt.Gox Changes, Coingig, Winklevoss IPO
Bitcoin News
A roundup of the top Bitcoin news from June 27 to July 4.
Thursday, June 27
- States Targeting Bitcoin Companies for Money Laundering (Video)
- Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Reaches Across the Table at G8 Summit
Friday, June 28
- Startup Profile: Coingig Launches the eBay Marketplace for Bitcoin
- Mt.Gox Now Offering International Wire Transfer to all US Banks
Saturday, June 29
- Bitcoin Awareness at 25% of US Population, Research Shows
- CES and SXSW to Feature Bitcoin Showcase Hosted by Startup Debut
Monday, July 1
Tuesday, July 2
Thursday, July 4
- Turn Cash into Bitcoins in Seconds with the Lamassu Bitcoin ATM Machine
- Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Resumes U.S. Dollar Withdrawals
States Targeting Bitcoin Companies for Money Laundering (Video)
According to a Wall Street Journal report, state regulators have issued warnings to a handful of Bitcoin-related companies, alerting them that they may be running afoul of money-transmission laws.
As the video below explains, because you can be largely anonymous in these transactions, there is concern that virtual currency can be used for money laundering or other illegal activities.
One of the companies identified as having received a warning is BitInstant. We also reported last week that the State of California issued a cease and desist letter to the Bitcoin Foundation.
We’ll be following this story closely.
CC image by by zcopley
Top Bitcoin News: Domains Seized, Bitcoin Tipping, Australian Retail
Bitcoin News
A roundup of the top Bitcoin news from June 3 to June 17.
Wednesday, June 5
Friday, June 7
Saturday, June 15
CC image by JefferyTurner
Full List of 35 Domains Seized in the Wake of Liberty Reserve Money Laundering
35 Domains Seized by the Government
The Justice Department has published a list of all exchanger domain names seized in the money laundering scandal that brought down Liberty Reserve. Note that many of these money exchangers have nothing to do with Bitcoin, but the scope of this news highlights the regulatory risks of running alternative currency exchanges.
There are 35 domains, all listed below and available here.
ABC-EX.NET
ABSOLUTEXCHANGE.EU
ALERTEXCHANGER.COM
CENTREGOLD.CA
DUYDUYCHANGER.COM
E-NAIRA.COM
EBUYGOLD.COM
ECARDONE.COM
EDEALSPOT.COM
ELECTRUMX.COM
ENTELNOVA.COM
EPAYMONSTER.COM
EXHERE.COM
GETEMONEY.COM
GOLDEXPAY.COM
GOLDMEDIATOR.COM
GOLDNAIRAEXCHANGE.COM
INSTANTGOLDNG.COM
INTEXCHANGE.COM
JTGOLD.COM
M-GOLD.COM
MAGNETIC-EXCHANGE.COM
MEWAHGOLD.COM
MI-BILLETERA.COM
MONEYEXCHANGE.VN
NICCIEXCHANGE.COM
NIGERIAGOLDEXCHANGER.COM
SUPERCHANGE.RU
TACOAUTHORIZED.COM
TUKARDUID.COM
UKRNETMONEY.COM
VELAEXCHANGE.COM
WEBMONEY.CO.NZ
WM-CENTER.COM
WMIRK.COM
Mt. Gox Forces Users to Verify Accounts After Government Crackdown
Mt. Gox Changes the Rules
Part of the excitement about Bitcoin is the enabling of anonymous transactions. But this capability also has caused some concerns amidst government crackdown on other anonymous exchanges, namely Liberty Reserve that has been accused of massive money laundering.
So Mt. Gox is Changing the rules. Going forward, all users must have verified accounts. Here’s the announcement.
Statement Regarding Account Verifications
The Bitcoin market continues to evolve, as do regulations and conditions of compliance for Mt. Gox to continue bringing secure services to our customers. It our responsibility to provide a trusted and legal exchange, and that includes making sure that we are operating within strict anti-money laundering rules and preventing other malicious activity.
As a result, beginning May 30th, 2013 all Mt. Gox user accounts are required to be verified in order to perform any currency deposits and withdrawals. Bitcoin deposits do not need verification, and at this time we are not requiring verification for Bitcoin withdrawals.
In the past two months Mt. Gox has invested in more than doubling our verification support staff, and we are currently able to process most verifications within 24~48 hours.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please visit the Security Center in your Mt. Gox account if you are not already verified, and keep in mind that being careful to submit the proper documents will result in a much faster processing time.
Regards
Mt.Gox Co. Ltd Team.
