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In some countries its illegal to buy dollars due to currency controls.
by maxilevi 2y ago
In some countries its illegal to buy dollars due to currency controls.
- snarf21 2y agoCan't the same countries also just make all the on-ramps and off-ramps just as illegal?
- donatj 2y agoIt's easier and safer to use a VPN than it is to meet a man in a dark alley for some dollars.
- dowager_dan99 2y agoyou still have to fund your stablecoin account somehow - how do I get local currency from my pocket into the ether?
- jeffparsons 2y agoCrime. The answer is crime. (Plus a whole bunch of pretty words to make it sound like they're saving the world.)
- Shasnani 2y agoYou'd use our platform! User A sends local currency to User B's fiat account. User B sends stablecoins (earned via salary, trading, mining, etc.) to User A's digital wallet (that we've created for them).
- thaumasiotes 2y agoAssuming you get banned, is your plan just "never visit any country where we do business"?
- Shasnani 2y agoHahaha we've had this conversation internally a couple of times. Definitely a few places that we'd probably avoid. But also plenty of others (e.g., Kenya, LatAm, Turkey, etc.) that have been quite friendly and would be fine to visit.
- goatsi 2y agoDoes user B need any sort of exchange/money transmitter license? Do you check the laws for this in each country you are available in? Do you notify user B of this fact and the potential legal risks? Do you verify if they have the license?
- Shasnani 2y agoUser B is sending a peer-to-peer transaction, akin to a Zelle or Venmo. In most other countries, these peer-to-peer payments (PIX, UPI, etc.) do billions of transactions per month. And since you're sending your own funds, you're not a money transmitter. If we do work with any larger entities (e.g., an OTC desk, liquidity provider), we'd certainly be cognizant of the relevant licensing.
- pigeons 2y ago> And since you're sending your own funds, you're not a money transmitter. It's MUCH more complicated than that in several countries, particularly the US.
- threeseed 2y agoAnd what are the legal implications for User B. Because if you are involved in washing illegally earned money in many places that's a criminal act.
- alwa 2y agoHow do you demonstrate that User B earned their stablecoins via “salary, trading, mining, and etc.”; as opposed to through crime, whether the conventional crypto sort or through subverting currency controls? What, other than money laundering, would motivate a person who had a supply of such stablecoins to want to supply them to into a market with currency controls? Is the concept there “I make my expat wages in dollars, I want to turn them back into $CURRENCY at the black market rate”?
- awesome_dude 2y agoThen... just open an account in a US bank using said VPN, instead of going through a middleman who will fall over and take the lot next week
- crummy 2y agoCan you do that without a US postal address?
- awesome_dude 2y agolol, I think that anything you say about not being able to open a US bank account applies to the platform that is supposed to KYC
- neucoas 2y ago"Just open a US bank account using a VPN, duh" It's so funny to read Americans who constantly downplay the problems that people in developing countries have
- awesome_dude 2y agoSorry about the delay in responding - but how is "Just use a crypto wallet" any better? What I probably should have said was that the platform should be offering a USD (or Euro, or whatever) denominated account, much easier for trading.
- csomar 2y agoYou on-ramp/off-ramp with P2P (aka just another guy). It is illegal but how can a government control that?
- threeseed 2y agoThe government wouldn't bother with the individuals. They would designate Karsa as a criminal organisation. And then trigger an Interpol Red Notice for the founders.