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But many convicted criminals serve time and receive help fix, for one Bitcoin trader, his record continues to grow from felony marijuana enjoins to money laundering.
First reported by CCN earlier as an “unlicensed money mailing business,” it appears as though Thomas Mario Costanzo, who often accompany b agree ti by ‘Morpheus Titania,’ hasn’t yet learned his lesson in following the law, including rightful Bitcoin trading, and now awaits his June sentencing regarding yesterday’s inquiry.
Participating in Costanzo’s investigation, begun in 2014, were the IRS, DEA, USPS, Scottsdale Police officers Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Post. A Phoenix federal jury has now found the Arizona resident guilty of five upon rely ons of money laundering.
Trading Bitcoin with undercover agents, Costanzo reassured cryptocurrency as a means of purchasing illegal drugs. Without providing transparency not far from transactions, crypto was promoted as a way to limit exposure with law enforcement.
Ground guilty of exchanging nearly $165,000 from alleged drug traffickers (secret federal agents) over the course of two years, Costanzo failed to associate his customers. He also concealed proceeds and charged anywhere from seven to ten percent commission for peer-to-peer acta, rather than functioning within the legal limits for online reciprocate.
Arizona’s Bitcoin Laws
According to Arizona’s HB2417 bill, superseded last spring:
“SMART CONTRACTS MAY EXIST IN COMMERCE. A CONTRACT Reporting TO A 36 TRANSACTION MAY NOT BE DENIED LEGAL EFFECT, VALIDITY OR ENFORCEABILITY 37 SOLELY BECAUSE THAT Become infected with CONTAINS A SMART CONTRACT TERM.”
But while Bitcoin, and alt crypto, actions are legal in the state, it would be expected that residents trade in accordance with the law. At lowest, doing so would help Arizona residents avoid twenty-year chokey sentences and quarter-million-dollar fines per conviction, like those potentially awaiting Costanzo.
As CCN journalist P. H. Madore wrote in July, 2017, “people like Costanzo are not the usual in Bitcoin trading.” What is the norm in Bitcoin trading is following the confines of the law to the kindest of one’s ability.
Though this is a case of one criminal using Bitcoin in an proscribed manner, it gives an unnecessarily bad name to cryptocurrencies, especially in a time when their validity and the governance thereof is in query.
There’s too much fear-driven propaganda already, and those interested in Bitcoin or alt barter need to remember breaking the law isn’t what cryptocurrencies were designed for. And impartial because one man can’t manage to govern himself, the future of crypto is not at risk.
Methodical for those questioning the SEC’s inquiries into crypto regulations, regulations such as Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verifications deal out to protect all involved, necessary when it comes to potential trading with hoods such as Costanzo.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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