Quote:
Originally Posted by sclitheroe
It's worth pointing out too that investing in mining is a losing proposition long term - the bitcoin currency is capped at 21 million units, and once those are all mined, there will be no more mining - the emphasis will then shift to collecting on posted offers to quickly verify transactions, and I'd expect the market for that kind of activity will quickly settle out to a few huge transaction houses with more processing power than you can ever hope to throw at it (essentially, the first bitcoin clearinghouses/brokers for lack of a better term), and who will then collect the lion's share of the fees for verifications.
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The cap of 21 million coins will be hit in 2140, a time frame not relevant to anything any of us really should care about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sclitheroe
If your idea of a hobby is being involved in a massive money laundering scheme, yes I agree. 
I fully expect that will become one of, if not, the most important role of bitcoins - it's a cryptographically secured, massively distributed and anonymized currency exchange with no central or regional oversight, running on an infrastructure that nobody has to pay for in aggregate. |
I don't see how it is any better way to launder currency than any traditional method. In order to convert bitcoins to cash, you need to have the same type of ID verification that you need to set up a RRSP or anything similar. In the end, you still need a front to do it.
Is it a possible avenue for such funds? For sure.