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Swedish criminal gangs using fake Spotify streams to launder money | Spotify
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
135 points (95.9% liked)
Technology
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Why would they use bitcoins to pay for the stream? If it's already bitcoin why bother?
Because Bitcoin is really really traceable and doesn't hold a stable value and is not widely accepted. So real currency is better and if you show a legitimate source then it is even better again.
Bitcoin is traceable. It's even more transparent than a bank account. Everyone can see how much money "you" have and where you spend it.
I said really really traceable.
Because then you can show the government the paper trail back to Spotify showing that the money came from "legitimate sources of income"
The government isnt stupid, someone getting paid in bitcoin isnt doing nothing for it.
And then what? How do you then buy a house or a car with Bitcoin without alerting the authorities? Tax man will knock on the door and ask how you’ve obtained those bitcoins and ask why you didn’t report and pay taxes over those Bitcoin.
And bitcoin aren’t even truly anonymous.
You want a legitimate source of income. If the bitcoins were obtained illegally or through illegal activities, you are fucked as soon as you try to cash out.
Even if you somehow manage to cash out and not get caught at that point, having large amounts of disposable cash with no legitimate source of income would also trigger some alarm bells.
Never forget that Al Capone went to jail for tax evasion, not all the other shit he did.
Allegedly