I don't know if it would stop it, but without cryptocurrencies, it would certainly be much less. Laundering USD is significantly harder than laundering Bitcoin.
> Laundering USD is significantly harder than laundering Bitcoin.
What exactly do you think people "launder" Bitcoin to? Why would it be harder to launder dirty USD than Bitcoin?
The end goal is the same, clean money you can use for any purpose. With USD, you only need to nestle it into a clean business that doesn't get scrutinized. Add in a step between with Bitcoin and suddenly it becomes harder.
I think the main issue is that with USD you need a dirty entry point that could compromise you at the moment of transfer, rather than with Bitcoin where you can chose the exit point whenever you want, and the entry is less risky. But still, adding Bitcoin to mix further complicates and adds risk to the overall process.
> without cryptocurrencies, it would certainly be much less
Isn't the (estimated) USD black market without cryptocurrencies vastly bigger than the black market of Bitcoin already, has been since forever and seems to continue to be like this for the foreseeable future?
I think laundering is the wrong term. You are right that obviously you need to launder it, now matter the currency. But the path of the money is easier to conceal with crypto than with bank transactions, because in crypto there's a large amount of potential middlemen that don't follow any KYC regulations.
Of course you can do the same thing with USD by using cash. A package of cash mailed to a fake address (where your courier receives the package from the mailman) is as untraceable as anything you can do with crypto. It is however more effort and potential risk.
"Transferring USD to a hostile nation is significantly harder than transferring Bitcoin. Crypto's ratio of criminal to legitimate use-cases is tiny compared to USD, and continues to shrink."
Yes, GP was a layperson using "laundering" imprecisely as a proxy for "using for state-sponsored criminal activity."
Your rebuttal, while pedantically correct, does not refute their larger point that Bitcoin greatly aids ransomware.
Furthermore, I'd argue it is easier for ransomware groups to transfer large values of illicitly-gained Bitcoin across borders without the possibility of interception by authorities. This is a key step in international money laundering.
I don't know if it would stop it, but without cryptocurrencies, it would certainly be much less. Laundering USD is significantly harder than laundering Bitcoin.