> Try signing up to Coinbase and funnel $320M worth of ETH via that account. They will 100% lock your account and ask for proof of where it comes from. If it comes from after doing a bunch of tumbling, they will go harder against you to prove where it comes from. Any big exchange will do the same diligence as otherwise they themselves will get into trouble with the law.
So cryptocurrencies are decentralized and free of regulation ... right until they aren't?
To be fair, if I walked into my local bank with $320M in cash I'd face the same problem.
Cryptocurrencies[1] are trying to be decentralized and free of regulation. But it turns out the world is run by people who like regulation.
[1]: There are so many people in crypto with such diverse views that it doesn't really make sense to say cryptocurrencies are X for any non-tautological value of X. Some people are 'code-is-law' crypto-anarchists, and some people are actually sane and can't wait for the law to get its shit together so they can build their cool decentralised prediction market without accidentally losing the ability to take international flights or something.
So cryptocurrencies are decentralized and free of regulation ... right until they aren't?
To be fair, if I walked into my local bank with $320M in cash I'd face the same problem.