Chinese crime syndicates are operating underground banks to launder the proceeds of fentanyl sales. But their practices, and the risks they pose, are far from new.
Really interesting article on a contemporary problem but with a deeply engaging history. It would appear that crypto currencies also dissemble information and can potentially allow for similar sleights of hand by ensuring the anonymity of user. My understanding of crypto is rather limited, but I was wondering if you see a similar set of concerns.
The broader point regarding the benefits/dangers of technology is also really interesting. To some degree it seems many technologies or processes can be exploited even if designed with benign purpose.
Thanks for taking the time to read! I was tempted to discuss the comparisons to crypto here but felt it would make the article too long. In some ways they are polar opposites, in the sense that crypto creates an immutable record of every transaction which can be reverse engineered (I strongly recommend Andy Greenberg's book, Tracers in the Dark, which is all about this characteristic). Underground banks, in contrast, can completely eliminate the paper trail by choosing not to maintain any records on their own books. One caveat, however, is that they now often use cell phones to communicate with one another, which creates a different kind of paper trail that could also be used to reverse engineer the money flows. Apparently certain Hawala brokers used to (or maybe still do) use fax to communicate, which might actually be a safer option for criminal actors trying to avoid detection. It's a fascinating spectrum.
Really interesting article on a contemporary problem but with a deeply engaging history. It would appear that crypto currencies also dissemble information and can potentially allow for similar sleights of hand by ensuring the anonymity of user. My understanding of crypto is rather limited, but I was wondering if you see a similar set of concerns.
The broader point regarding the benefits/dangers of technology is also really interesting. To some degree it seems many technologies or processes can be exploited even if designed with benign purpose.
Thanks for taking the time to read! I was tempted to discuss the comparisons to crypto here but felt it would make the article too long. In some ways they are polar opposites, in the sense that crypto creates an immutable record of every transaction which can be reverse engineered (I strongly recommend Andy Greenberg's book, Tracers in the Dark, which is all about this characteristic). Underground banks, in contrast, can completely eliminate the paper trail by choosing not to maintain any records on their own books. One caveat, however, is that they now often use cell phones to communicate with one another, which creates a different kind of paper trail that could also be used to reverse engineer the money flows. Apparently certain Hawala brokers used to (or maybe still do) use fax to communicate, which might actually be a safer option for criminal actors trying to avoid detection. It's a fascinating spectrum.
Thank you for your note, the recommendation, and the interesting point about fax machines! I suppose there is still a market for those.