U.S. Department Of Justice Shuts Down Crypto Exchange Bitzlato, CEO Arrested By BtcCasey The U.S. Department of Justice announced a scary-sounding livestream yesterday that ended up being them taking down a Hong Kong based cryptocurrency exchanged called Bitzlato.
The DOJ accuses Bitzlato and Bitzlato's CEO of facilitating more than $700 million in transactions involving illicit funds.
While Bitcoin Twitter seemingly clowned on this announcement as being small fish, there are some interesting implications. The livestream focused greatly on the fact that this exchange was "peer-to-peer," although the exchange was custodial. They also highlighted several times that one of the main reasons criminals used it was the lack of KYC and identification measures.
This announcement could be preemptive actions designed to set The State up for the outlawing of no-KYC exchanges. While this isn't confirmed in any way, it certainly is possible. As Marty Bent would say, "Be aware, freaks." |