OK, so to play the devil's advocate, let's take the example of btc-e. btc-e did do a lot of business with criminal enterprises, it appears, but they also had a lot of legitimate users.
So how is that different from a restaurant deep in mob territory in some urban area that serves tons of mobsters dinner every evening? Should that restaurant be prosecuted? How about the corner grocery that serves the same mobsters? I mean, food is just as critical to surviving as money is, right?
So how is that different from a restaurant deep in mob territory in some urban area that serves tons of mobsters dinner every evening? Should that restaurant be prosecuted? How about the corner grocery that serves the same mobsters?
No, IMO it should not be prosecuted as long as they are only serving food and getting paid the normal way.
They might very well get in trouble if they for example
start offering the mobsters empty "takeaway food" for 1000 monies,
transfer 900 monies in payment for non-existent ingredients to a shell company run by mobsters.
Warning: IANAL. And I made this example to be simple and clear. I guess you could get in trouble for less than that.
So how is that different from a restaurant deep in mob territory in some urban area that serves tons of mobsters dinner every evening? Should that restaurant be prosecuted? How about the corner grocery that serves the same mobsters? I mean, food is just as critical to surviving as money is, right?