We will continue to have gold sellers as long as they continue to make a profit. I have an idea for removing that profit.
Simply keep track of all gold sent from each account banned for botting, selling gold, etc. and delete that much gold from the recipients when the account is banned. That way they can’t just transfer the gold to accounts Anet doesn’t know about yet before deletion. Reverse their trading post purchases as well ofc so they can’t try to offload the gold that way either.
This will also have the benefit of enabling Anet to stop punishing legit players with some of the measures they take to hurt botters.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they already do this. I know CCP (EVE Online) does for sure, but the problem with money laundering (which is essentially what this is), is that when it’s done well, it’s almost impossible to trace.