--- description: There are over 1,600 LocalBitcoins sellers in New York alone and thousands more across the country title: How I Laundered Bitcoins On the Streets of New York image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2111761366c914ea/6987799be20a87e99ba847b8/bitcoin-surrounding-many-coins.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How I Laundered Bitcoins On the Streets of New York by [Daily Dot](/author/daily-dot/) ## Daily Dot Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 13, 2015 3:26 PM CUT  Bitcoin surrounded by various world coins Bitcoin surrounded by various world coinsGetty Images by [Daily Dot](/author/daily-dot/) ## Daily Dot Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 13, 2015 3:26 PM CUT _This story was originally published at the_ [_The Kernel, the Daily Dot’s Sunday magazine_](http://www.dailydot.com/technology/smart-homes-actually-cool/?utm%5Fcontent=How%20CES%20made%20me%20a%20smart%20home%20believer&utm%5Fmedium=syndication&utm%5Fsource=Time&utm%5Fname=time%20syndication "undefined")_._ As I stood on a Brooklyn street corner late at night with one hand gripping a wad of cash in my jacket and the other clutching the smartphone in my pocket, an old memory hit me. The place looked exactly like a street corner where I bought weed once (or maybe twice) in high school. This time I was making another transaction, one that could also confuse bystanders and get a second look from local police. I was getting ready to buy bitcoins. There are plenty of other ways to acquire the virtual currency. There are even Bitcoin ATMs in several cities in North America. But sites like LocalBitcoins.com—a Craigslist-inspired directory that brokers real-life transactions for a modest fee—serve a very specific type of clientele, those trying to cash-out their bitcoins or acquire them without tying the transaction to their actual identity, often with the intention of staying on the blindside of the law. I remember feeling vulnerable back in high school, worrying about being robbed or arrested. A similar weight started to settle in as I waited for the stranger I found online. I knew nothing about him, not even his name or what to look for. He just instructed me to come to this intersection with my smartphone, ready to complete the transaction. The $160 that I carried wouldn’t even buy me a single Bitcoin, but it’s always best to test the waters with small stakes. The dealer was willing to exchange as much as $5,000 per transaction, and others offer services that double that. I leaned into a shadow on the gate of a shuttered bodega and checked the time. My seller was late. [_Read the rest of the story at_ ](http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/11327/laundering-bitcoins-on-the-streets-of-new-york/ "undefined")[_The Kernel_](http://www.dailydot.com/technology/smart-homes-actually-cool/?utm%5Fcontent=How%20CES%20made%20me%20a%20smart%20home%20believer&utm%5Fmedium=syndication&utm%5Fsource=Time&utm%5Fname=time%20syndication "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3665403/laundering-bitcoins/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3665403/laundering-bitcoins/"},"headline":"How I Laundered Bitcoins On the Streets of New York","datePublished":"2015-01-13T15:26:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:04:09.384Z","description":"There are over 1,600 Bitcoin sellers in New York alone and thousands more across the country","url":"https://time.com/3665403/laundering-bitcoins/","keywords":["Tech","Bitcoin","New York City","Currency","Brooklyn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2111761366c914ea/6987799be20a87e99ba847b8/bitcoin-surrounding-many-coins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daily Dot","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daily-dot/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2111761366c914ea/6987799be20a87e99ba847b8/bitcoin-surrounding-many-coins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bitcoin-surrounding-many-coins","caption":"bitcoin-surrounding-many-coins","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3665403/laundering-bitcoins/","name":"How I Laundered Bitcoins On the Streets of New York"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here's What Happened When We Used NYC's First Bitcoin ATM","description":"What's it like to try and buy a meal with Bitcoin? 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