Depends on the country. Definitely in the UK if you make a lot of large cash transactions without a good business reason, you'll get scrutiny.
This is one of the reasons that common fronts for crime are companies that would be expected to handle a lot of cash :)
Also the major advantage of cryptocurencies in crime is their international nature. It means I can sit in a country that has no extradition treaty with the places I'm doing crime, safe in the knowledge that I won't be touched, as long as I'm careful who I target.
> This is one of the reasons that common fronts for crime are companies that would be expected to handle a lot of cash :)
Or a large amount of smaller companies for which 5K in revenue a month won't look suspicious (I'm thinking of stuff like these small phone (repair) shops, and there was a massage parlor down the road that was open frequently but never saw any customers. Still managed to stay open for years. Maybe that grey Mercedes that parked out in front of it once a month had something to do with it?)
Drug dealers and such probably yes. Sending 10 mio USD ransom across the world in cash would be much harder, but is so much easier in cryptocurrencies.
But cash isn't that useful if you're holding a company to ransom on the other side of the world. And normal bank transfers are very traceable.
Banks need to report any transactions greater than $10K (or a series of smaller transactions that make up $10K). The consequences of a bank not reporting far exceed any profit they would make from it.
Traditional laundering operations are typically very expensive and subject to heavy scrutiny. Banks or other washers take a big cut. And if you're here talking banks which have been caught doing this then it isn't very secret anymore. Crypto can be laundered quickly, cheaply and safely. And in unlimited quantities.
This is one of the reasons that common fronts for crime are companies that would be expected to handle a lot of cash :)
Also the major advantage of cryptocurencies in crime is their international nature. It means I can sit in a country that has no extradition treaty with the places I'm doing crime, safe in the knowledge that I won't be touched, as long as I'm careful who I target.