????匯豐（HSBC）和渣打（Standard Chartered）退出洗錢業務的舉動或許來得正是時候。在一些需要躲開監管視線、轉移現金或洗錢的人們中間，一種網絡虛擬貨幣——比特幣（Bitcoin）似乎正在贏得青睞，日漸流行。

????如果你花點時間看看比特幣的網絡市場，就會發現比特幣的用戶從街頭擔心通脹的普通伊朗人，到傾向于用無跡可尋的貨幣收款的職業殺手和毒品販子，形形色色，無所不有。如果比特幣在國際市場上的匯率能穩定下來，有望最終進入合法的金融體系，威脅到眾多銀行以及Visa、萬事達卡（MasterCard）等支付運營商的重要利潤來源。

????上周，總部位于英國的兩家銀行匯豐和渣打分別遭遇天價罰款19億美元和3.27億美元，如此巨額的罰款幾乎讓人難以理解。兩家銀行被控幫助一些不擇手段的演員轉移和達成交易，違反了國際法和聯合國制裁政策。按紐約總檢察官辦公室的說法，匯豐為墨西哥黑手黨做了大量工作，渣打幫助伊朗政府達成了約2,500億美元的石油交易，從德黑蘭賺到了大量利潤。

????但像匯豐和渣打這樣在地下金融市場中努力爭奪一席之地的狀況并不少見。從瑞信（Credit Suisse）到瑞銀（UBS），再到摩根大通（JPMorgan），全球幾乎各大金融機構都曾在某些時候逾越雷區，為那些他們明知應列入黑名單的政府或個人的可疑交易提供便利。銀行為什么要參與這類交易，個中原因顯而易見——這些交易的利潤極高。

????不過，由于政府、尤其是美國政府加大打擊力度，如今銀行要繼續為“邪惡”國家或在西方臭名昭著的人物提供業務服務已變得困難多了。舉例來說，對于與伊朗進行交易，奧巴馬政府已向歐盟施壓，要求將伊朗封鎖在歐盟銀行體系之外。最近，伊朗國內的銀行被踢出了環球同業銀行金融電訊協會（SWIFT）組織，要從外國銀行向伊朗匯錢幾乎已是不可能。至少目前看來，這一利潤中心似乎已經向銀行關上了大門。

????但罪犯和邪惡國家仍然需要轉移他們的現金。于是，網絡虛擬貨幣“比特幣”悄然登場。如果你對這種貨幣還不熟悉，我們在這里簡單介紹一下：比特幣是一種財富存儲形式和交換媒介，主要用于網上購買商品和服務。目前，比特幣交易主要在互聯網地下世界，即所謂的“深層網絡”（Deep Web）中進行。相對于搜索引擎和一般互聯網瀏覽器帶給我們的互聯網，“深層網絡”就是它們下面的黑土。

????你可以舒舒服服地坐在家里的電腦前，在這個互聯網地下世界中買賣從毒品到槍支的幾乎任何東西。還可以通過一種比特幣“攪拌機”洗錢。它就像是一個比特洗衣店,在這里比特幣和現金都被會被洗“干凈”。跟銀行一樣，這些“攪拌機”通常對這項服務收取1%的交易費。

????HSBC and Standard Chartered may have gotten out of the money laundering and sanction-skirting game just in time. Bitcoin, a virtual online "currency," seems to be gaining traction and legitimacy among those who need to transfer or launder their cash outside of the prying eyes of regulators.

????Spend some time in the sketchy online marketplace for this currency and you'll find that Bitcoin users range from the common Iranian on the street, who is worried about inflation, to hit men and drug dealers, who prefer to be paid in an untraceable currency. If Bitcoin is able to stabilize its value on the international markets, it could eventually creep into the legitimate world of finance, threatening major profit centers for both the banks and payment operators like Visa and MasterCard.

????The massive fines levied against British-based banks HSBC ($1.9 billion) and Standard Chartered ($327 million) last week were so big it was almost hard to comprehend. The two banks were accused of helping unscrupulous actors transfer and conduct business in violation of international law and UN sanctions. HSBC did a lot of work for the Mexican mafia while Standard Chartered enjoyed the comforts of Tehran by facilitating, as per the New York Attorney General's Office, some $250 billion worth of oil trades for the Iranian government.

????But HSBC (HBC) and Standard Chartered are hardly alone in grabbing a piece of the financial underworld. Nearly every major financial institution from Credit Suisse (CS) to UBS (UBS) to JPMorgan (JPM) have been fined at some point for facilitating questionable transactions for governments or individuals they knew they shouldn't be dealing with. It is understandable why the banks participated in such business – it is extremely profitable.

????Nevertheless, it has become much harder for banks to conduct business with rogue nations and unsavory characters as governments, most notably the US, fight back. In its dealing with Iran, for example, the Obama administration has pressured the EU to lock Iran out of its banking system. Iran's banks were recently cut off from the international "SWIFT" club, making it virtually impossible to transfer money to Iran from a foreign bank. This profit center, at least for now, seems closed to the banks.

????But criminals and rogue nations still need to move their cash. Enter Bitcoin, the online virtual currency. For those unfamiliar, Bitcoin functions as a storage of wealth and a medium of exchange for goods and services mostly available for purchase on the web. For now, Bitcoins are primarily accepted in the Internet underworld known as the "Deep Web," which is a sort of dark foil to the web brought to us by search engines and standard internet browsers.

????Here in this internet netherworld you can buy and sell almost anything – from drugs to guns – all from the comfort of your home computer. Money laundering can be conducted through one of the various bitcoin "mixers," like Bit Laundry, where bitcoins and cash are exchanged for "clean" ones. Like the banks, these mixers usually take a 1% transaction fee for the service.