San Diego Dark Web Vendors Plead Guilty to Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Conspiracy

San Diego-based business managers Aidan Curry and Connor Brooke pleaded guilty in federal court Monday for conspiring to launder dark web proceeds through their unlicensed online business, which sold cryptocurrency in exchange for cash.

The defendants’ business, BayCoins, sold Bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency, to the public in cash for a premium. Curry and Booke described their website as the “Craigslist of Bitcoin.”

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is used by buyers and sellers on online black markets, also known as the dark web, to keep their transactions anonymous. Before someone can use their cryptocurrency, they must convert it into “real” currency like the U.S. Dollar. A common way to do so is through an unlicensed money transmitting business that exchanges cryptocurrency for cash, which was the function of BayCoins.

Curry and Brooke generated significant cryptocurrency profits from BayCoins, which they used to fund their acquisition, sale, and distribution of marajuana on…