Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 279 posts

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#141

Post by fluoridation »

hn_acc1 wrote: post #131
bigstrat2003 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The #1 use case for crypto is that it's anonymous like cash. And yes, this enables people to use it for crime... just like they use cash . The unavoidable cost of freedom has always been that some people will misuse it. Personally, I would rather have freedom even if it gets misused than not have freedom even if it means crime is over.

I'll bet $100 that the percentage of crypto used for crime is higher than the percentage of cash used for crime.

Mmh... What do you mean by percentage? Over the amount transacted per day, or over the total supply?

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#142

Post by giarc »

chihuahua wrote: post #35
paxys wrote: post #6

Isn't this like the #1 use case for crypto? Everyone wants an untrackable unblockable currency that is out of government control until the day it is used for things they don't like, then suddenly "government please control this!"

I thought the #1 use case for crypto was ransomware, followed by shitcoin rug-pulls, and the ability to commit theft without recourse. Sending money to Iran is just a minor edge case.

When I think about it, I know people that have been involved in all of those areas (always on the wrong non-criminal end). However, I'm not sure I know a single person that has made a regular transaction in some cryptocoin.

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#143

Post by giarc »

embedding-shape wrote: post #139
carshodev wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every US company/citizen is not allowed to do trade with Iran due to the ITSR laws except under highly specific situations. It gets more complex if a company is multinational though. A citizen can travel to Iran but even if they buy something there on holiday if they bring it back to the US they need to go through complex customs procedures to make sure its legally brought back in.

> Every US company/citizen [...] if they bring it back to the US Is that relevant here? > Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, [...] was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan, subsequently left Japan for Malta, and currently has no official company headquarters. The founder seems to have been born in China and is Canadian. I still also don't understand if Iran…

"flowed from two Binance accounts to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups, a possible violation of global sanctions."

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#144

Post by beAbU »

himata4113 wrote: post #130
beAbU wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but this does not happen for large transactions, due to being vulnerable to the $5 wrench attack (1) For big transactions where something of actual value is exchanged, both parties will want an escrow, and this is where a public exchange comes in. 1 - https://xkcd.com/538/

Except that there is a huge trusted network for this. The world does not revolve around americas and europe. Not everyone has issues cashing out millions of crypto from a bank. This has been especially prevelant with countries that host a lot of Russian immigrants ever since the SWIFT ban, the regulation is extremely lax and there is minimal data shared to western institutions. I have heard from friends who are in th…

The moment that crypto is cashed out at a bank, no matter how sketchy, a record is created in a ledger. This completely destroys the so-called anonymity of cryptocurrencies.

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#145

Post by overgard »

chihuahua wrote: post #35
paxys wrote: post #6

Isn't this like the #1 use case for crypto? Everyone wants an untrackable unblockable currency that is out of government control until the day it is used for things they don't like, then suddenly "government please control this!"

I thought the #1 use case for crypto was ransomware, followed by shitcoin rug-pulls, and the ability to commit theft without recourse. Sending money to Iran is just a minor edge case.

Well, you could also use it to buy a pizza and find out it that your pizza cost a billion dollars a few years later.

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#147

Post by ericbuildsio »

basilikum wrote: post #121
ericbuildsio wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could someone explain to me where the myth of "crypto = untrackable" comes from, and why it's still being perpetuated? Storing a record of every single transaction on a publicly accessible blockchain sounds trackable by design

Bitcoin ist pseudonymous. If you never attach your real identity to your Bitcoin you remain pseudonymous. Now that's a very big if and why states heavily try to enforce KYC for exchanges. The reality is a lot more messy. Different chains have different properties. Things like CoinJoins for Bitcoin or TornadoCash for Ethereum exist which aim to break the money trail. Mixers are a thing which are a trusted entity doing…

First time I've heard of a change address - that's clever and I see how it obfuscates the flow of cryptocurrency, but it ultimately still seems traceable

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#148

Post by smcin »

idop wrote: post #128
carshodev wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is incorrect, bitcoin is slower and more expensive, but bitcoin should not be used as cash, coins like stablecoins which direclty track US dollars or altcoins with lower fees should be used, the lightning network also is useful for transactions. Bitcoin CAN be used as a store of wealth and the slowness actually makes it better as the slowness is part of the same process that makes it safer, harder to hack/takeov…

[flagged]

What's your specific criticism?

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#149

Post by singpolyma3 »

lambda wrote: post #54
hilliardfarmer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a deeply troubling and cynical comment. As far as I know, nowhere in the Bitcoin white paper or the original code base. Does it say anything about what you seem to think it's use cases are. Bitcoin has one main use, digital cash, that can be sent instantly and for free or a very low fee. Edit: I would agree though, that anything other than that is probably a scam.

What? "Instantly and for a very low fee"? Fees have historically gone up above $100 per transaction. They've since added hacks on top of the original Bitcoin protocol to get the price back down again, but the original design was not good for low fees. And transactions can take 30 minutes or more to settle, that's hardly instant. If you accept a transaction instantly, it's relatively easy for someone to scam you by do…

I've never seen $100 for a normal sized transaction that seems rather hyperbolic.

Re: Binance fired employees who found $1.7B in crypto was sent to Iran

#150

Post by hocuspocus »

arjie wrote: post #100
BenGosub wrote: post #90

Is Iran supposed supposed to be banned on Binance?

It's a US-sanctioned country so allied nations play along with the sanctions and Binance is located within that US sphere of influence so Iran is supposed to be currently banned, yes.

It's not like Western(-ish) nations have much of a choice here. As soon as your banks and financial system depend on the USD in any way, it comes with a mandatory dose of US imperialism and extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Post reply on HN