My apologies, I shouldn't treat HN like Twitter. My statement was meant to spark a discussion but I should try to explain myself.
Maybe "Money laundering doesn't exist in a hypothetical world of private peer-to-peer transactions" is better? That's what I believe the crypto-folk are working towards.
I recognize the existence of laws again 'money laundering' in countries like the USA. I suppose a better way of framing what I think is that money laundering is an invented crime in order to further empower agents of a State to seize assets of those suspected of actual crimes. By 'invented' and 'actual' I'm appealing to a sense of legitimacy separate (or adjacent?) to said State's legal system.
Maybe "Money laundering doesn't exist in a hypothetical world of private peer-to-peer transactions" is better? That's what I believe the crypto-folk are working towards.
I recognize the existence of laws again 'money laundering' in countries like the USA. I suppose a better way of framing what I think is that money laundering is an invented crime in order to further empower agents of a State to seize assets of those suspected of actual crimes. By 'invented' and 'actual' I'm appealing to a sense of legitimacy separate (or adjacent?) to said State's legal system.