That's true, but at the same time let's not downplay the ways that self-custodial crypto may be a bulwark against authoritarian governments. I am not labelling Canada an authoritarian government by any means, but widespread self-custodial crypto would have made their response (freezing bank accounts) far harder to pull off.

But if you used Monero, they’d have a harder time proving what funds you may have access to.

Doesn't matter. If the FBI has records of you transferring money to an exchange and then you claim it just "disappeared" after reaching the exchange, they're going to roll their eyes.

The crimes in question involved real estate deals with paper trails. They also have transcripts of conversations where the partners acknowledge what they're doing is wrong and could potentially trigger an FBI investigation.

Monero won't save anyone from that.

Or you could just accidentally drop your laptop in the sea and then wait a decade or two before selling the Moneroj in another country?

The first part you can do with any cryptocurrency, the anonymity provided by Monero may allow you to succeed at the second.

There are several ways to get crypto (including Monero) without touching an exchange.

How this will probably play out:

FBI agent: What cryptocurrency assets do you own?

You: 2 BTC, 1 ETH.

FBI agent: We found some Monero transactions in your past, we think you're holding XMR and lying to an FBI agent about it. Off to jail for you.

>FBI agent: What cryptocurrency assets do you own?

>You: 2 BTC, 1 ETH.

bzzzt

You're supposed to remain silent, not expose yourself by lying.

John McAfee claimed they were doing this to him before he "suicided".

> we think

They need evidence

More specifically for a criminal case they’d need evidence beyond reasonable doubt, no?