I would guess that, however one goes about converting a million dollars of physical cash into bitcoin, it has just as many downsides as his other options.

I saw offers of cash through the mail for bitcoin on some dark net markets, back when I was fascinated with the Silk Road case.

I'm pretty sure his Russian gold fence could have set him up with bitcoin instead of cash in the first place, though.

Yikes. Bitcoin: the best for illegal transactions. That's not a positive attribute.

Might be a good thing for bitcoin (heh) if that surprises you. That was pretty much it's public face for a long time thanks to the Silk Road and various mainstream pieces about money laundering.

Actually it doesn't surprise me that much. Parents asked when bitcoin was around 10k on the way up if they should invest. I told them there will probably be value for a while because it is a money laundering Mecca, but definitely risky. For a while (up to 19k+) I thought I might have burned significant tech trust.

money laundering via bitcoin, is overhyped and not as much of an issue as people make out. cash is always going to be king.

It's not though; it's really a misconception. It's much more traceable than cash. Monero would be what a criminal would use.

Bitcoin (or more specifically, the purchasing power thereof, which is what matters when you are using it as a store if value) gets arbitrarily confiscated too, except it's called "whales dumping" instead of "government seizure". Though I suppose if he stole the money then the risk of a 50% haircut thanks to bring on the wrong side of anonymous pumpers taking profits is no big deal.