Earlier quoted context omitted.
As always, the extremely relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/538/
Event the url is relevant...
why? Honest question, I don't know.
U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
281–290 of 369 posts
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#282I find it extremely amusing that the US government has over the last several years become one of the world's largest traders in bitcoin. It's not quite the path many were predicting back in the early 2010s, but Bitcoin has been full of surprises. If history is any guide, the bitcoin will be auctioned off sooner rather than later.
Wait until you learn how many cars, guns, cash, and expensive valuables the feds seize a year. Not to mention businesses, land, and homes. I just found a multimillion dollar SF condo and land in Liberia, Costa Rica on the US Marshalls website.
Do you have a link? I wonder if that condo is from the owner of silk road.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
As always, the extremely relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/538/
Event the url is relevant...
> why? Honest question, I don't know.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#284This gives the US government a lot of power over bitcoin... That both gives the government an incentive to let bitcoin thrive (to protect it's holdings), but also an opportunity to substantially manipulate bitcoins market price, possibly down to nearly zero. Or the keys to these bitcoin will sit idly in a filing cabinet forever...
No, it doesn't. $1B in bitcoin is only 1% of the bitcoin market cap. The bitcoin world can basically just move on and ignore this if they want to.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#285I find it extremely amusing that the US government has over the last several years become one of the world's largest traders in bitcoin. It's not quite the path many were predicting back in the early 2010s, but Bitcoin has been full of surprises. If history is any guide, the bitcoin will be auctioned off sooner rather than later.
Not unless they can prove it was ill-gotten. It has to go through a trial
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
>"Would you rather give us your Bitcoin now, or would you rather spend some time in jail first and give us the Bitcoin later?" A billion dollars is an enormous amount of money. The kind of money that could covertly pay an entire prison worth of guards to look the other way for an escape attempt. Of course, you end up on the run for the rest of your life, which doesn't sound especially fun.
You can fantasize about this James Bond stuff all you like, but one schmuck with a Bitcoin wallet probably is not going to pull it off. Bribing people isn’t so easy and reliable that you can wave a fat stack of cash in someone’s face and expect them to take it. People have lives and their careers tied up in their jobs and know that accepting a bribe isn’t a sure thing. It depends on where you live, sure. But in the U…
You don't need to bribe people if you are on the run, and as long as you're not on the run for a fresh murder/rape case with your pictures spread all over the papers, law enforcement won't actively go out and fleece neighborhoods looking for you - they will turn up at your home, your work and any known relatives/associates though.
First thing is to get away at least one town or two, preferably a couple counties, from where people might recognize you. Use rail or a taxi, and shut down your phone.
Pay hotels, food, gas, anything in cash so it can't be used to track you down, get rid of your old phone/sim card/computer, don't use Facebook to contact family or "associates", don't do drugs or at least stay away from trouble (bar fights) and for heavens sake don't drive a beater car, use rail or bus instead (flights are monitored).
Even crossing borders is easy in many cases. Dress up as a hiker and go for it. If you're not in a narc smuggling area and have sea access, buy a small rubber boat (with cash) and use that to get out of the country.
When cash runs out: agriculture, anything in the hospitality area (hotels, motels, pubs, restaurants), cleaning and moving services, construction/teardown always have high demand for new able and willing staff, pay in cash and don't give a fuck about who you are as long as you show up on time and do your work without stealing stuff. If you're into sex work and it's legal where you are, it's a great way to make money.
You need a place to stay? Every area has some sort of ... shoddy district with cheap lodging, Craigslist or whatever can get you actual cheap rentals.
Other things to avoid? Mentioning you're on the run, bragging about whatever crime you did, stealing, getting into fights, driving a car (random traffic stops, "your tail light is broken"), breaking more than one law at a time.
You can get a fairly long run if you stick to the above, many years even without resorting to bribery. If you are in an area where bribery is the norm though - South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa come to mind - then by all means go for it, might make your getaway a whole lot easier.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait until you learn how many cars, guns, cash, and expensive valuables the feds seize a year. Not to mention businesses, land, and homes. I just found a multimillion dollar SF condo and land in Liberia, Costa Rica on the US Marshalls website.
Do you have a link? I wonder if that condo is from the owner of silk road. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is actually a good point. The government know you've been paid it and you've paid tax but that doesn't mean you can't rightfully hide the rest of the money away somewhere. They don't know if you spent the rest of it immediately or kept it if you never put it into a domestic bank.
You can indeed 'rightfully stash $1B in cash under your mattress' - but almost any other private/public storage mechanism will involve gains/losses which have to be disclosed.
Wouldn't they only have to be disclosed when they get turned back into usable currency within your jurisdiction?
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How do you surrender assets you don't have control over? If you’ve arranged to share control of the Bitcoin wallet with someone else so they can move coins out of it in order to evade a court order, what’s happened is you’ve now conspired with someone else to evade a court order. Say hello to the RICO act, or something like it. Maybe you’ll be spending some time in prison after your assets are seized, and maybe you…
I am a cyber criminal. One day I get arrested and the court demands I decrypt my wallets. I refuse and get hit with contempt. My wife flees to Russia and moves the coin to another wallet, without my knowledge. Or maybe it was an agreed plan. Who can prove otherwise. Eventually I give up and decrypt the wallets. What are your legal grounds for prosecuting me for this further action? What can you prove? How are you goi…
You'd be fairly well boned on obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Any brilliant plan you think up in the course of a few seconds will be likely to run into the fact that the common law has a thousand years of collective experience.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#290I find it extremely amusing that the US government has over the last several years become one of the world's largest traders in bitcoin. It's not quite the path many were predicting back in the early 2010s, but Bitcoin has been full of surprises. If history is any guide, the bitcoin will be auctioned off sooner rather than later.
Not unless they can prove it was ill-gotten. It has to go through a trial
Looks most likely that the government can keep it unless someone files suit to contest the seizure.
https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/white-collar-crime/asset-for....