Liberty Reserve

Liberty Reserve S.A.
Type of business	Sociedad Anónima
Type of site	E-commerce payment system
Founded	2006
Dissolved	May 2013
Headquarters	Costa Rica
Services	Digital currency transfer
Launched	2001 (?)
Current status	Inactive (taken offline by regulators)

Liberty Reserve was a Costa Rica-based centralized digital currency service that billed itself as the "oldest, safest and most popular payment processor, serving millions all around a world".^[1] The site had over one million users when it was shut down by the United States government. Prosecutors argued that due to lax security, alleged criminal activity largely went undetected, which ultimately led to them seizing the service.^[2]

In May 2013, Liberty Reserve was shut down by United States federal prosecutors under the Patriot Act after an investigation by authorities across 17 countries. The United States charged founder Arthur Budovsky and six others with money laundering and operating an unlicensed financial transaction company. Liberty Reserve is alleged to have been used to launder more than $6 billion in criminal proceeds during its history.^[3]

^ "Liberty Reserve digital money service forced offline". BBC. May 27, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[BBC-1] "Liberty Reserve digital money service forced offline". BBC. May 27, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.

[NYTimes-2] Cite error: The named reference NYTimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ABC-3] Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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