Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#1

Post by rkudeshi » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 4:25 PM UTC

Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction
washingtonpost.com

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#2

Post by cheez » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:04 PM UTC

This is why I can't take Bitcoin seriously. The privacy implications are insane.

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#3

Post by VaucGiaps » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:17 PM UTC

cheez wrote: post #2

This is why I can't take Bitcoin seriously. The privacy implications are insane.

What do you mean exactly? If you want, you can say which addresses are yours. If you don't: privacy!

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#4

Post by zgoldberg » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

cheez wrote: post #2

This is why I can't take Bitcoin seriously. The privacy implications are insane.

Why is privacy a necessary property of a "serious" currency? Just because that's the precedent doesn't mean it's the 'right way'.

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#5

Post by antonius » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:25 PM UTC

Once wallets become available that can mask this type of public exposure, bitcoin popularity and usage will grow even more.

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#6

Post by chubot » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:28 PM UTC

I haven't been following closely, but could it have been the FBI transferring Silk Road funds to their own address? Given the timing that seems to make sense.

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#7

Post by josephagoss » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:31 PM UTC

cheez wrote: post #2

This is why I can't take Bitcoin seriously. The privacy implications are insane.

Please stop with the privacy scaremongering. A lot of work is currently going into trustless mixing/anonymising services that will largely stop this type of tracking. (coinjoin/zerocoin)

A lot of us are investing with the expectation true anonymous transactions eventually happen, because when they do Bitcoin will become even more valuable.

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#8

Post by nitrogen » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:37 PM UTC

VaucGiaps wrote: post #3

cheez wrote: post #2

This is why I can't take Bitcoin seriously. The privacy implications are insane.

What do you mean exactly? If you want, you can say which addresses are yours. If you don't: privacy!

Without running through a mixer, aren't one's transactions are vulnerable to being followed through the network of addresses back to the point of origin, and forward to the destination?

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#9

Post by hbz » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:39 PM UTC

This type of "sophisticated analysis" will be useless whenever zerocoin is proven as a viable addition to the protocol. True anonymity is scary from a regulatory standpoint but extremely desirable to many others.

Re: Here’s who probably did that $150 million Bitcoin transaction

#10

Post by sidko » Sat, Nov 23, 2013, 5:39 PM UTC

chubot wrote: post #6

I haven't been following closely, but could it have been the FBI transferring Silk Road funds to their own address? Given the timing that seems to make sense.

They've always tagged the seized coins either with 'Silkroad seized coins' or 'DPR seized coins' in the past. e.g. https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5G...