acquire Ethereum with dirty money -> buy NFT's -> sell NFTs for Ethereum -> sell Ethereum for USD -> deposit USD in bank account
I fail to understand how that is materially different from:
acquire Ethereum with dirty money -> sell Ethereum for USD -> deposit USD in bank account
Besides there being more steps with NFTs, I don't understand how it would attract less scrutiny.
In both cases, one must acquire Ethereum in the beginning with dirty money. This can be done on a foreign exchange, transfer in the Ethereum to a domestic exchange and sell it for USD.
In both cases, large deposits in bank accounts will be flagged by banks for review by the authorities. It's not a very good idea.
Arguably, USD stablecoin is a much more efficient method. Just buy them, and sell them off slowly and deposit the USD in ways to avoid scrutiny. This can't be done with Ethereum because of the volatility: you can't wait because your money might lose a ton of value.
I’m not an expert in money laundering but I’ve been waiting for a cryptocurrency version of the restaurant laundering scam.
Essentially criminal A buys a restaurant. Some sales are legit and other sales are just criminal A filling the register and making sales. Police are relatively good at investigating this because ratios between income and expenses are always dramatically off.
What if instead of pizza you just mint and buy tokens?
In both cases, one must acquire Ethereum in the beginning with dirty money. This can be done on a foreign exchange, transfer in the Ethereum to a domestic exchange and sell it for USD.
In both cases, large deposits in bank accounts will be flagged by banks for review by the authorities. It's not a very good idea.
Arguably, USD stablecoin is a much more efficient method. Just buy them, and sell them off slowly and deposit the USD in ways to avoid scrutiny. This can't be done with Ethereum because of the volatility: you can't wait because your money might lose a ton of value.
My 2 cents. I am not a lawyer.