There is no reason illegal operations should be allowed free reign on the main forum for Bitcoins.
So you believe that if I were to simply use this mixing service by sending some of my coins to it and receiving those back that I would be committing a crime?
If you live in any country where a GPU capable of realistically mining Bitcoins isn't the same price as your house...
The answer is: Yes. It is VERY illegal. You're looking at some serious prison time.
If you've ever heard of the "Mob" or the "Mafia", that's one of their biggest businesses. It's why they own so many businesses such as Strip Clubs, Restaurants, etc. etc. If the FBI ever intervenes into Bitcoins, the reason will be because of Money Laundering.
Money laundering has been criminalized in the United States since the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986. That legislation, contained at section 1956 of Title 18 of the United States Code, prohibits individuals from engaging in a financial transaction with proceeds that were generated from certain specific crimes, known as “specified unlawful activities” (SUAs). Additionally, the law requires that an individual specifically intend in making the transaction to conceal the source, ownership or control of the funds. There is no minimum threshold of money, nor is there the requirement that the transaction succeed in actually disguising the money. Moreover, a “financial transaction” has been broadly defined, and need not involve a financial institution, or even a business. Merely passing money from one person to another, so long as it is done with the intent to disguise the source, ownership, location or control of the money, has been deemed a financial transaction under the law. However, the lone possession of money without either a financial transaction or an intent to conceal is not a crime in the United States
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According to the records compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission, in 2009, the United States Department of Justice typically convicted a little over 81,000 people; of this, approximately 800 are convicted of money laundering as the primary or most serious charge
The fact the community seems to condone such activities, even making stickies with services, does not help. It is in fact very serious and very illegal in any industrialized country. By continuing to condone such, you're helping Bitcoins with bad press and helping bring the attention of the authorities to something that is in no way illegal. If things like this continue, trust me.....
government intervention will be imminent.
Personally, I don't want to see that happen. I am not one to invest any serious amount of money into Bitcoins, I am however a Software Developer and have been investing a very large amount of my free time. I don't want to see it be all for naught.
