OK so they steal some Magic Internet Tokens, but how does that help pay the actual bills? You can't import oil or materials or microchips in exchange for Buttcoins. You will have to find a fool to give you real money in exchange of those tokens right? Even China and Russia won't accept funny-money in exchange of real goods. Sure, they will be able to sell some of those tokens on some exchanges to DCAing gamblers or laser-eyed folks like Saylor and Bukele, but that won't net them Billions. Also, the money will have to flow through some banking channels even if from some shady island nations. How do they actually liquidate the stolen tokens?
North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
51–60 of 65 posts
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you disclose three of the types or products you buy with it without going to jail though?
Assuming most people that use cryptoassets are criminals is not very nice. The media loves to talk about criminals using it, as though criminals do not use every other asset class as well. I buy all sorts of things. To name a few.... Cloud servers, VPN subscriptions, hardware security modules, random number generators, mechanical puzzles, anonymous donations to charities, payments to/ from friends for splitting check…
Man, you are spending those tokens on coffee? You'll regret it when it reaches moon by next year. You can buy the whole coffee shop then with same number of satoshi-butts!
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not new news, and the role of North Korean hackers in cybercrime is well documented. https://www.trmlabs.com/post/inside-north-koreas-crypto-heis... https://go.chainalysis.com/rs/503-FAP-074/images/Crypto_Crim...
No evidence is presented that North Korea was involved in these links either. BTW, 1 security vendor flagged this URL as malicious https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/731411888985ad777850f6896...
Seriously? They've been hacking for years.
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#54OK so they steal some Magic Internet Tokens, but how does that help pay the actual bills? You can't import oil or materials or microchips in exchange for Buttcoins. You will have to find a fool to give you real money in exchange of those tokens right? Even China and Russia won't accept funny-money in exchange of real goods. Sure, they will be able to sell some of those tokens on some exchanges to DCAing gamblers or l…
You mix and anonymize it all and cash in some part into actual money stored in friendly overseas banks like Macao.
The rest is still useful for trade bypassing sanctions. You can't buy nuclear weapons or stuff to make nuclear weapons with a bank transaction because financial system is watching and bank mgmt doesn't want to be jailed but you still use magical tokens to barter for those goods direct.
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Normally if you stole euros you wouldn't need to first sell them for dollars to get value out of them. I can't pay with dollars in most of the shops in Poland. According to your logic, a dollar isn't a currency, not any more than rare postage stamps are. Or, in other words - why and how do currency exchanges exist, then? They literally sell and buy different kinds of money.
You can buy things with euros outside of Poland though, just because Poland doesn't use Euro as a currency doesn't mean it isn't one. Most cryptocurrencies aren't currencies in the sense that no one accepts them for anything other than regular currencies or other crypto. There are rare exceptions to this, but that's exactly what they are - exceptions. >why and how do currency exchanges exist, then I hope this isn't a…
You can buy things with bitcoin outside of the Internet, too; just because USA doesn't use bitcoin as a currency doesn't mean it isn't one. By your logic, most existing currencies aren't currencies either, in the sense that no one accepts them for anything other than regular currencies or cryptocurrencies, and that also happens only when you're in a currency exchange. There are rare exceptions to this, but that's exactly what they are - exceptions.
> I hope this isn't a real question.
I hope it is.
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I buy things and send money with cryptocurrency often, and some of my clients pay me with it. Faster than bank transfers, and lower fees.
How is it being one of like 12 people globally who actually do this?
I know hundreds, so I assume there are thousands of us at least.
Not to mention spikes in usage in several countries during times where inflation is wild enough to make bitcoin prices seem stable by comparison.
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#57That's fair enough. People are so dumb investing in these scam crypto projects and ignoring all the good, secure projects, I feel safer knowing that their money is now in North Korea's hands.
Where should I find all the good, secure projects?
Probably in North Korea. They have the best real-world tested security teams so they can be trusted with your money. Being from North Korea means you don't have to worry about all those western nanny-state regulations and oversight. Just buy their coins and become rich with zero risk...
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#58That's fair enough. People are so dumb investing in these scam crypto projects and ignoring all the good, secure projects, I feel safer knowing that their money is now in North Korea's hands.
Where should I find all the good, secure projects?
In case this is an earnest question: the Lindy effect is your friend. Don't chase shiny new things. Stay away from new projects until they have a track record of 10 years or more. This simple rule would have saved people from Mt Gox, Luna, FTX, and every other fly-by-night disaster.
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can buy things with euros outside of Poland though, just because Poland doesn't use Euro as a currency doesn't mean it isn't one. Most cryptocurrencies aren't currencies in the sense that no one accepts them for anything other than regular currencies or other crypto. There are rare exceptions to this, but that's exactly what they are - exceptions. >why and how do currency exchanges exist, then I hope this isn't a…
You can buy things with bitcoin outside of the Internet, too; just because USA doesn't use bitcoin as a currency doesn't mean it isn't one. By your logic, most existing currencies aren't currencies either , in the sense that no one accepts them for anything other than regular currencies or cryptocurrencies, and that also happens only when you're in a currency exchange. There are rare exceptions to this, but that's ex…
>>By your logic
You keep saying this, but you keep replying to what you think my logic is rather than what I actually wrote, because I guess it's just easier to argue with.\
>>There are rare exceptions to this, but that's exactly what they are - exceptions.
Yes, you're right - entire countries accepting a currency for trade and services is exactly the same as what is effectively small handful of traders accepting crypto. 300 million people using euro every day is no different than maybe few hundred companies accepting bitcoin - both are exceptions.
Re: North Korea making billions from stolen cryptocurrency
#60Since the ledgers are public, how difficult is it to black list individual bitcoins? E.g, have the feds do a public list of blacklisted coin ids and simply say that accepting these coins is against whatever compliance is necessary for a business to operate crypto in the USA and Europe. Then when some realestate agency is about to sell an apartment in Dubai for bitcoins they’re gonna be “no, not those. We can add them…
Bitcoins aren't individual. You just have addresses with an associated sum, once two different addresses send 1 Bitcoin each to that address, those are equal and if you send 1 Bitcoin from the address who just received it, it's not one of Bitcoins that was received that got sent, it's just two values being updated at the same time (sender's amount decremented, receivers amount incremented). What you can do, is blackl…
This is just wrong, sorry. You're describing the account model, but bitcoin follows the UTXO model.
If you received coins from multiple transactions, those coins are not equal and retain their individual histories. To spend from an address with multiple UTXOs, you (or your wallet software) must choose which specific coins to send using coin control.