So what is the actual story here? Some dormant coins that were associated with the Silk Road for which no ownership was established and nobody was prosecuted for has moved to a new address and the feds are laying claim to the coins? And what actual information is there to suggest they were hacked?
U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
21–30 of 369 posts
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#22[deleted]
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
This address has no known private key https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/1BitcoinEaterAddressD... Sure someone could randomly guess it but not likely. You don't need to have or know a private key to generate a valid checksum bitcoin address that can be sent to.
I just created several trillion “disposal” sounding addresses and started sharing the one that I guessed a private key for. There’ll be some real surprises in 2025!
If you can generate the private key to a 27 character or longer English readable Bitcoin address then you can use the same magical technology you possess to earn far more than $1 billion USD.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#24Seems like HN might be blocked as referrer here... clicked on the link and got a 404. If I go to the link directly it loads.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#25[deleted]
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#26TFA says the suit seeks to seize the $1B in coins after an unknown hacker gained access to the funds. Forfeiture doesn’t mean destroying the coins. If the Fed can gain access to the coins they will auction them off. But if I understand correctly, this is the Fed basically laying a legal claim to and flagging coins that it doesn’t control therefore making them much more difficult to redeem, after seeing that they move…
Bitcoin really missed the mark with respect to privacy and fungibility. I bet this guy wishes they were holding something like Monero now!
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#27Seems like HN might be blocked as referrer here... clicked on the link and got a 404. If I go to the link directly it loads.
Works for me
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#28Seems like HN might be blocked as referrer here... clicked on the link and got a 404. If I go to the link directly it loads.
Unlucky, probably, because it works for me.
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#29I'm not the most saavy BTC person, but isn't part of the allure of bitcoin the ability to evade this type of seizure?
Re: U.S. Feds Seized Nearly $1B in Bitcoin from Wallet Linked to Silk Road
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Are they just planning on destroying the wallet key, kind of like if they just burned a billion in seized cash? Why on earth would they do that? Under US law, law enforcement agencies can keep a portion of the proceeds from the sale of any goods they legally seize. This is a massive windfall for them.
Oddly enough, in the case of other "Anonymity-Enhanced Cryptocurrencies" ("AECs"), the DoJ has taken the position that they'd rather not recirculate them. See https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/1314254265251225600 >, where it's reported: > In most cases, the Department [of Justice] does not liquidate seized or forfeited AECs, as doing so allows them to re-enter the stream of commerce for potential future criminal…
I'm sorry - but - HUH?
> re-enter the stream of commerce for potential future criminal use.
Because of course if CASH re-enters the steam of commerce is somehow different?