In the wake of the DHS seizure of a bank account tied to Mt. Gox and the government shutdown of Liberty Reserve, Fox News takes a look at the increasing regulatory scrutiny that digital currency exchanges are facing from the U.S. government. From the article:

“I really believe in complying and keeping track of bad guys,” said Peter Vessenes, CEO of a start-up called CoinLab, which is attempting to get full regulatory approval before launch. “But with all the different state rules we put in so much more time and energy … than we should have to.”

Despite the regulations, technology experts say that they will not prevent people from anonymously using bitcoins for illicit things like buying drugs online. The real-world analogy is cash; the government can tell when it is dispensed by banks, and to whom, but it loses track once it is dispensed.

“Bad people are going to do bad things. Right now the people who do the most bad things do it with cash,” Murck of the Bitcoin Foundation said.