Internal FBI risk assessment of Bitcoin network [pdf]

Post by Groxx » Fri, Nov 16, 2012, 8:17 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #111

Groxx wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is suggesting doing something sketchy with 1 and then moving it and 2 and 3 to 4. You can improve your odds of evading detection by moving things around a bit, yes, but most applications I'm aware of will simply move them all in a single transaction. There have also been some fairly large-scale network analysis papers showing linked accounts and the flow of e.g. one big theft a while back - unless you run it thr…

Think about it as cash: if someone knows that serial #AAAA was stolen, and then later you deposit that bill at a bank, they still have no idea if you are the person who stole it. It could have gone through any number of hands. I think I see your point about mixers though.

Post by arrrg » Fri, Nov 16, 2012, 8:35 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #109

arrrg wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only? Greece may be collapsing. To say that other Euro countries are also collapsing would at this point be hyperbole.

Spain's economy is headed for a depression, Ireland's credit is shot after their bailout, Portugal collapsed almost immediately and is suffering high unemployment even after a bailout, Cyprus's credit rating is junk and they've applied for a bailout. So it's not just Greece. Several other countries were headed for trouble but seem to have things under control now: Italy, Belgium, France, the UK, Switzerland, Germany,…

Post by sp332 » Fri, Nov 16, 2012, 9:02 PM UTC

arrrg wrote: post #114

sp332 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spain's economy is headed for a depression, Ireland's credit is shot after their bailout, Portugal collapsed almost immediately and is suffering high unemployment even after a bailout, Cyprus's credit rating is junk and they've applied for a bailout. So it's not just Greece. Several other countries were headed for trouble but seem to have things under control now: Italy, Belgium, France, the UK, Switzerland, Germany,…

That’s not collapse in any sense of the word. Even if I were to agree with you on the collapse, that’s not all Euro countries. Germany, for example, had never any problems or trouble that could by any sane person be described as collapse.

Post by rorrr » Fri, Nov 16, 2012, 9:10 PM UTC

Groxx wrote: post #108

sp332 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes it a little harder to prove. If you do something sketchy and get bitcoins in wallet 1, and then buy something from wallet 1, people will see that the same wallet that did something sketchy also bought something. On the other hand, if you move bitcoins from wallet 1 to wallet 2, then do the buying from wallet 2, there's some separation and people aren't sure if it's the same person.

This is suggesting doing something sketchy with 1 and then moving it and 2 and 3 to 4. You can improve your odds of evading detection by moving things around a bit, yes, but most applications I'm aware of will simply move them all in a single transaction. There have also been some fairly large-scale network analysis papers showing linked accounts and the flow of e.g. one big theft a while back - unless you run it thr…

Post by SilasX » Fri, Nov 16, 2012, 9:18 PM UTC

api wrote: post #64

feral wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Given that Bitcoin records all transactions for posterity, and given the ongoing rise of "big data" analytics, I'd say Bitcoin is likely to be harder, in the long run, to use for shenanigans. A government currency has forms in which transactions create no paper trail. Bitcoin does not. I did some research on anonymity (mentioned in that document); I find it hard to project how private Bitcoin will be in future. Our…

It seems that to do shenanigans with Bitcoin would require the same care to avoid information leakage that would be required to do similar things with global digital payment networks and banks. The key would be to begin by considering any address linked to an identity that is you or related to you "dirty," and to be careful about avoiding linkage to any of those dirty addresses. To really be careful I think you'd hav…