Quote
I’m still working through all the documents associated with the case, but it’s already clear that the story has broad implications for the emerging world of virtual currencies—LRs, Bitcoin, others. Specifically, it’s clear that the government sees few legitimate uses for these currencies, and would like nothing better than to hasten their demise.
Quote
Aside from those libertarians who, on principle, want their activities to be unobserved by government, I’d wager that criminals comprise the primary market for anonymous, untraceable virtual transactions. Part of the reason for this is that there’s no reason for legitimate merchants to accept these currencies. Liberty Reserve had a shopping cart interface that merchants could install if they wanted to accept LRs. But, according to the government, “the ‘merchants’ who accepted LR currency were overwhelmingly criminal in nature.” If you run a virtual currency exchange, you will always be judged on the company you keep—and if that company primarily consists of people trading in stolen credit card numbers, you can bet that the U.S. government will come after you sooner or later. Take heed, Bitcoin speculators.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/05/29/arthur_budovsky_liberty_reserve_what_the_liberty_reserve_indictment_means.html