[theplumber]

>> There are plenty of knives that are designed to facilitate murder, and they are correspondingly regulated. We don't regulate kitchen knives in that way, because they don't represent the same intent.

I'm pretty sure the majority of knives used for criminal activities are rather kitchen knifes.

Compare Tornado Cash with cash money and tell me how they are different. Being untraceable does not make it a criminal instrument or does it? Is it criminal to conceal your financial transactions from the government?

[woodruffw]

> I'm pretty sure the majority of knifes used for criminal activities are rather kitchen knifes.

Regardless of whether this is true (which it probably isn't, at least in the US), it doesn't change the intent. We regulate different things differently based on their intended use.

This should cover your second question as well. Intent is what the government cares about in this instance. And yes, it is indeed illegal to conceal your transactions from the government, at least insofar as they concern money that the government is entitled to tax or review.

[mattficke]

Yes, it is a crime to conceal your financial transactions from the government.

[A4ET8a8uTh0]

It is not that straightforward, but as general statements go, you are not wrong. The issue seems to be that the government lately ( via various distributed actors ) has recently deemed some entirely legal transactions unsavory, which then banks/processors and so on deemed as risky and then those unsavory yet not illegal transactions become defacto verbotten. I hate to say it, but it really is one of those 'the tighter you grip' situations. Case in point, one few years ago, most people did not know what SDN list or OFAC is. But now more and more customers, and not just business customers seem to be aware of how expansive BSA really can be.

[chrischattin]

Do you report every cash transaction?