Bitcoin-Rigging Criminal Probe Focused on Tie to Tether

Re:Bitcoin-Rigging Criminal Probe Focused on Tie to Tether by mikekchar on Tuesday November 20, 2018 @09:05PM (#18499663)

Out of curiosity, is that actually true? I mean Bitfinex is doing business in the US. I thought that was the link to being able to apply US laws on them. Does creating a USD backed security in another country automatically put you under US law? I'm asking because I literally don't understand how that could work.

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Re:Bitcoin-Rigging Criminal Probe Focused on Tie to Tether by mancerayder on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @09:40AM (#18502966)

I'm glad you asked because I had to do a bit of research to come up with some evidence - stuff that got lost in the back of my mind when I read about it a while back. Essentially the US has jurisdiction if it's cleared with USD - and how can it be cleared with USD if there's not some US institution in one place or another. Someone with legal expertise should chime in and correct my primitive babblings. But how about:

https://www.crowell.com/NewsEvents/AlertsNewsletters/all/For...

(NYS has jurisdiction over a foreign entity by virtue of a tie with a bank in the state.)

https://cblr.columbia.edu/the-u-s-jurisdiction-over-transfer...

(An article about jurisdiction of USD transfers.)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16267428

(Another recent HN discussion on this topic.)

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Re:Bitcoin-Rigging Criminal Probe Focused on Tie to Tether by jstanley on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @11:22AM (#18503763)

> how can it be cleared with USD if there's not some US institution in one place or another

Anybody can setup a little hut where they take in physical US dollars and give out virtual dollars which can be transferred over the internet, ala Tether.

If you operated such a hut outside the jurisdiction of the US, it doesn't matter what laws the US has, they don't apply to you.

This is the point I was trying to make that you dismissed as "infantile": just because you hold US dollars doesn't mean US laws apply to you.

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Re:Bitcoin-Rigging Criminal Probe Focused on Tie to Tether by mancerayder on Friday November 23, 2018 @02:04PM (#18518274)

If you operated such a hut outside the jurisdiction of the US, it doesn't matter what laws the US has, they don't apply to you.

I don't know what a 'hut' is in this context, but if it's connected to the USD payment system, not only can the long arm of the U.S. try to apply itself, but the said hut can be cut off via pressure on the international banking system. For the former, see the links I sent, which includes a case about New York State applying laws to an overseas entity; for the former, consider Iran and sanctions.

If your hut consists of a person shuffling US currency around with thumbs and rubber bands, well, that's a different story.

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