Bitcoin Dealer Faces Five Years in Jail for operating unlicensed exchange

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Jacob Burrell Campos pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to the operation of a Bitcoin exchange he failed to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Burell confessed to selling "hundreds of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin to over 1,000 customers throughout the United States from January 2015 to April of 2016."

Besides not registering his Bitcoin exchange operation, Burell also did not implement any of the required anti-money laundering safeguards demanded by U.S. Department of Treasury regulations, and "performed no due diligence on the source of his customers’ money."

Moreover, Burell admitted to advertising his Bitcoin business using the localbitcoins.com platform, using often encrypted email and text messaging communication means to contact his customers.

"He negotiated a commission of 5% above the prevailing exchange rate, and accepted cash in person, through nationwide ATMs, and through MoneyGram," said Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office's press release.

After buying his initial Bitcoin supply using a U.S. regulated cryptocurrency exchange, Burell had his account disabled because of the sheer volume of shady looking transactions he was recording.