虚拟货币渐成洗钱利器

    用比特币支付就和发送一封电邮一样简单，只需找到一位比特币“客户”，像比特币ID一样，将款项付至另一个人的比特币“钱包”中。有一些类似贝宝（PayPal）的合法（严格来说，并不那么合法）比特币服务和比特币“交易平台”可以简化流程。与通过传统渠道付钱不同，比特币交易可以完全匿名，对于那些希望逃避法律监管的人堪称完美。一旦交易完成就可以随时轻松销号，另立新账户，用户借此可以尽可能地隐瞒身份。

    非常规支付渠道的资金转移和交易业务给金融行业带来了严重冲击。比特币网络是免费的，任何人任何时候都可以付款和收款。相比之下，由万事达、Visa、美国运通（American Express）和Discover等工商运营的其他支付网络都会向商家收取网络使用费用，同时留下书面记录。转移大笔现金时，大银行往往收取大笔手续费。正如信用卡支付，银行交易会留下书面痕迹，政府监管部门会对此密切监控，时时留意包括从逃税到洗钱等在内的、任何形式的不法货币行为。

    但是不能因为比特币网络免费，就认为它是最好的转移财富方式。事实上，这是迄今风险最高的资金转移方式，因为它只限于比特币这一种交换媒介。不像普通货币有主权国家的信用担保，没人为比特币提供担保，因此比特币在国际外汇市场中总是大起大落。由于比特币仍是一种虚拟货币，买卖双方在自身比特币账户中移入/移出货币时都承担着巨大的汇率风险。比特币诞生以来的两年里，比特币/美元的汇率最高为30美元，最低为2美元。今年夏天随着安全担忧导致人们大批抛售比特币，比特币汇率大跌。应景的观察人士写了一些比特币的文章后就转而关注其他主题去了，但比特币的汇率随后开始呈现缓慢而稳定的回升，最近报14美元左右。

    如果比特币要想作为一种货币和支付网络继续存在下去，形成相对稳定的汇率是关键。但对于那些本币疲弱的人们来说，比特币正在赢得青睐。以伊朗为例，超高通胀已促使一些精通科技的伊朗人转向用比特币来保存他们不断贬值的财富。过去伊朗人用过美元，但随着美国和其盟国实施严厉的国际银行业制裁，如今已很难在伊朗街头找到美元的踪影。

    比特币的命运或许能够就此实现转变：从深层网络的交易货币升级为合法的替代货币；现在通过这种货币，美国的一个人可以瞬间将现金转给他在伊朗的表弟，零痕迹，零费用。随着比特币市场的流动性和价值上升(目前流通的比特币仅有1,050万个，价值1.40亿美元)，比特币将来甚至可以被伊朗政府用于买卖武器和石油。

    Sending a Bitcoin payment is as easy as sending an email, you just need to access a Bitcoin "client," like BitcoinID, and send the payment to another person's Bitcoin "wallet." There are a bunch of legitimate, and not so legitimate, PayPal-like Bitcoin services and BitCoin "exchanges" that streamline the process. Unlike sending money through traditional channels, Bitcoin transactions can be done completely anonymously, perfect for someone trying to skirt the law. Once a transaction is complete, it is easy to liquidate an account and open a new one at any time, allowing users to stay as incognito as possible.

    Passing money and making transactions outside of normal pay channels has serious repercussions for the financial industry. The Bitcoin network is free and can be used by anyone at any time to send and receive payments. That compares to other payment networks run by MasterCard (MA), Visa (V), American Express (AXP) and Discover, all of which charge merchants fees for using their network and leave paper trails. The big banks charge large fees to move large blocks of cash. As with credit card payments, bank transactions leave paper trails, which are closely monitored by government regulators, who are constantly on the lookout for any sort of monetary malfeasance, ranging from tax dodging to money laundering.

    But just because the Bitcoin network is free to use doesn't mean it's the best way to move wealth. Indeed, it is by far the riskiest way to send money as it is only as good as its medium of exchange -- Bitcoins. Unlike currency backed by the full faith and credit of sovereign nations, Bitcoins are backed up by, well, nothing, leaving it open to wild swings on the international currency market. Since Bitcoins are still a virtual currency, buyers and sellers take on massive exchange rate risk moving money to and from their Bitcoin accounts. In the two years it's been around, the Bitcoin has been valued as high as $30 to as low as $2. A wild swing occurred last summer when security concerns cause people to dump their Bitcoin en masse. Casual observers wrote off Bitcoin and moved on, but it has slowly and steadily regained its value, last trading at around $14 per Bitcoin.

    It is critical for Bitcoin to establish a relatively stable exchange rate if it is to survive as a currency and as a payment network. But for those living in nations with weak currencies, the Bitcoin has started to gain traction. In Iran, for instance, hyperinflation has caused some of the more technologically savvy Iranians to turn to Bitcoin to store their fleeting wealth. Before, Iranians used the US dollar, but those have become hard to find on the streets of Iran these days thanks to the tough international banking sanctions levied by the US and its allies.

    It is here where Bitcoin may make a turn – rising from the deep web into a legitimate alternative currency; one where someone in the US can transfer cash to his cousin in Shiraz in a blink of an eye, with no trace and no fees. As the Bitcoin market becomes more liquid and more valuable (there are currently just 10.5 million Bitcoins in circulation valued at $140 million), it could even eventually be used by the government of Iran to buy and sell weapons and oil.