Case 1.1 in Chapter 1 is called United States v. Ulbricht. Ross Ulbricht the defendant was charged with money laundering. Money laundering occurs when someone has stolen funds and they want to transfer them to other instrucment sto hide their illegality. For example, narcotics are paid for in cash which is later exchanged for gold. then converted backto cash.

Ulbricht built the "Silk Road" on the dark web where goods were purchased with bitcoin. At the time, 2014, bitcoin was a relatively unknown digital currency. Ulbricht argued that bitcoin could not be considered "funds" so he could not be charged with Money Laundering. At the time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treated bitcoin as property not currency.

ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS BELOW WITH at least TWO sentences each.

1. How do you think the judge decided the case?

2. How would you have decided the case?