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Topic: Why is Bitstamp different from Gox in regard to USD transfers and regulators? (Read 1248 times)

legendary
Activity: 1372
Merit: 1008
1davout
The banks don't want to have to deal with US govt

You'd be suprised.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 501
Ching-Chang;Ding-Dong
... or only a matter of time before they simply choose to not do business with US citizens, residents or other US persons, as many financial services firms around the world are doing. This is quite unrelated to Bitcoin I must add.

This very common and I actually find it a bit odd that Bitstamp wants anything to do with people who are citizens of or just in the United States of Fascism.

My bank does not want anything to do with customers from the USSA, and I have yet to see a local bank who does not specifically refuse customers from that country. It's interesting that there is no such policy against customers from Russia, China or other more free countries - it's just the US and their citizens that pose a problem.

Actually its not the citizens causing the problem, its the wacky US goverments anti money laundering regime.

The banks don't want to have to deal with US govt, so they chose not to deal with US citizens.

donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1015
ATM, Bitstamp doesn't have to start the conversation with:
Q: Why are you interested in our services?
A: Well, the funds in our last banks were confiscated, and the DHS seized our Dwolla account, too. We have months of backlog and are operating at a loss in the US. We entered an agreement with another company to have them take over our US operations, but we're now the defendant in a $75m (or whatever the number is) lawsuit with them over breach of contract.
legendary
Activity: 1190
Merit: 1001
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.

Bitstamp hasn't registered with FINCEN. They aren't even trying to become compliant and are therefore attractive to criminals/money launderers. Only a matter of time before the fed takes down bitstamp. Probably btce too.
Bitstamp is not based in the US, and cannot be "taken down" by the "fed."
 

yup just like Liberty reserve  Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

Company run out of Costa Rica by an ex-US citizen is a lot more within reach than company run by Europeans out of Slovenia.  I certainly cannot see anything comparable to the liberty reserve take down.  If the US wanted to shut down Bitstamp it would be by applying pressure to the banks Bitstamp use, and thus Bitstamp slowly strangled as they find no banks willing to accept their accounts.
legendary
Activity: 3682
Merit: 1580
First they are going after the big fish. Then they will go after the small fry like bitstamp.
legendary
Activity: 2282
Merit: 1050
Monero Core Team
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.

Bitstamp hasn't registered with FINCEN. They aren't even trying to become compliant and are therefore attractive to criminals/money launderers. Only a matter of time before the fed takes down bitstamp. Probably btce too.

... or only a matter of time before they simply choose to not do business with US citizens, residents or other US persons, as many financial services firms around the world are doing. This is quite unrelated to Bitcoin I must add.
legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1006
100 satoshis -> ISO code
Again, the question here is - how come Gox is supposedly having problems that Bitstamp is not having?
 

OK then. How is CampBX functioning at all?
Based in Atlanta, GA and presumably doing business in 50 states...
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Ultranode
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.

Bitstamp hasn't registered with FINCEN. They aren't even trying to become compliant and are therefore attractive to criminals/money launderers. Only a matter of time before the fed takes down bitstamp. Probably btce too.
Bitstamp is not based in the US, and cannot be "taken down" by the "fed." 
 

yup just like Liberty reserve  Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 1246
Merit: 1077
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.

Bitstamp hasn't registered with FINCEN. They aren't even trying to become compliant and are therefore attractive to criminals/money launderers. Only a matter of time before the fed takes down bitstamp. Probably btce too.
Bitstamp is not based in the US, and cannot be "taken down" by the "fed."  What can become a problem are USD wire transfers and USD bank accounts, as these are both, universally, in the hands of the US banks, which are of course regulated by the government of the United States.

Again, the question here is - how come Gox is supposedly having problems that Bitstamp is not having?
 

The "Fed" can't take anything down anyways. Taking down companies is not within its power. Gox is having problems because it deals with USD and wants to do it in a regulated manner, but lies about its own status.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 501
There is more to Bitcoin than bitcoins.
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.

Bitstamp hasn't registered with FINCEN. They aren't even trying to become compliant and are therefore attractive to criminals/money launderers. Only a matter of time before the fed takes down bitstamp. Probably btce too.
Bitstamp is not based in the US, and cannot be "taken down" by the "fed."  What can become a problem are USD wire transfers and USD bank accounts, as these are both, universally, in the hands of the US banks, which are of course regulated by the government of the United States.

Again, the question here is - how come Gox is supposedly having problems that Bitstamp is not having?
 
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Ultranode
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.

Bitstamp hasn't registered with FINCEN. They aren't even trying to become compliant and are therefore attractive to criminals/money launderers. Only a matter of time before the fed takes down bitstamp. Probably btce too.
legendary
Activity: 1372
Merit: 1008
1davout
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.
They just ignore them altogether.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.
If you do work with them.
And Karpeles didn't lie to a regulator, he lied to a bank.
legendary
Activity: 1246
Merit: 1077
Bitstamp doesn't lie to regulators about its status as a money transmitting business. Bitstamp doesn't "forget" to update their registration information.

If you are going to work with regulators, it's a good idea not to lie to them.
legendary
Activity: 1372
Merit: 1008
1davout
They have accounts in Europe : harder to reach.
They're on thin ice too though.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 501
There is more to Bitcoin than bitcoins.
Presumably Gox is having serious problems with the US regulators and banks, leading to thus far $5M seized. As a consequence, there are no USD wire transfers coming out of Gox.

Why is it, then, that Bitstamp is at the same time running smoothly its USD-denominated bitcoin exchange, and is able to wire me USD, working with those same US banks?

Either Bitstamp is on thin ice, but has not fallen through yet, or the official Gox story is not true.
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