This is in reference to this question:
Is it a good idea to store all my savings in cryptocurrency?

Although the title sounds good, the actual details of the question boil down to the OP attempting to circumvent banking restrictions in his country. Which sounds to me like a form of money laundering.

Seems to me that this site should not entertain such questions; however, the various close reasons don't appear to be valid for it.

So, as a community, should we be active about removing such questions or should we ignore the legal aspects and help the OP find a way to transfer money out of his country?

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  • The "vote to close" choices are limited, they are the ones members have decided are most common. You can always offer your own reason. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mar 5 '18 at 10:29

We have a history of closing questions on this site that ask about breaking laws.

However, when I read this particular question, it seems to me that the OP is asking about how to legally pay for his foreign schooling given the restrictions in his home country. I would not call this money laundering, and I don’t see any reason to close this question.

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  • 2
    Agreed, not planning to close it. But, to be fair, isn't OP asking how to get around the laws of his country? – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mar 5 '18 at 10:22
  • @JoeTaxpayer Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but the OP notes a legal limit of $8k per week, then proposes buying the crypto weekly. I took that to be an attempt to follow the law, but I really don’t know anything about Egyptian law. – Ben Miller - Remember Monica Mar 5 '18 at 11:42
  • I think given the amount the OP was trying to move and his reasons seemed, more than a bit fishy. I freely admit I may be completely wrong. – NotMe Mar 5 '18 at 14:35
  • @JoeTaxpayer I see that you did end up closing the question. Would you mind sharing your reasoning? – Ben Miller - Remember Monica Mar 12 '18 at 12:45
  • As the answers started to accumulate, 2 high rep members voted to close as opinion based and I agreed. If you feel strongly that it has value here, pls vote to reopen. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mar 12 '18 at 13:59

I did not down vote, and I didn't vote to close. But I also didn't submit an answer.

I saw it as too easy to go beyond just answering the question is it a good idea to store money in cryptocurrency (no), to providing the steps needed to get around the banking laws.

In some cases I watch the interaction between the question and answers and then decide to VTC a few days later, if it becomes clear the sympathetic part of the question was a ruse.

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While, typically, I think it makes sense to advise that a person abide by the laws of their country, I don't think closing a question asking about skirting a law accomplishes anything. If someone is asking how to skirt some anti-money laundering rules in their country, I think it would be perfectly acceptable to answer that "It appears you're attempting to skirt XYZ law(s)."

However, I don't see any ethical reason to assist an oppressive government in overbearing currency controls, which are different than anti-money laundering rules, and in this situation I don't see a problem with supplying an answer that might contravene a country's currency controls.

The US has a ton of anti-money laundering rules and regulations but I can pretty freely transact my dollars and freely exchange them for euros and freely move them around and take them with me if I leave the country.

As an example, Venezuela has horribly oppressive currency controls and citizens are forbidden from currency exchange. Venezuela's government is the problem in Venezuela, citizens attempting to get out of the country and take their money with them are not.

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