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Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

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Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#21
post #3

Given illegal nature of Silk Road 2, I can't help but be suspicious of this explanation of the hack. If someone's sufficiently willing to flaunt laws as to operate a site devoted to selling contraband, what stops them from taking advantage of their position of power and stealing from their users?

The fact that they would be cutting their own revenue stream? I'm not saying its not possible but really this is just speculation. I could just as easily surmise that it was from a government or banks who feel threatened by bitcoin...

With any other business I would agree, but a $90k+ payout would probably be very attractive for someone running a clone of a drug site that got publicly busted just months before. I would imagine these guys have a countdown to when they get arrested ticking in their heads...

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#25
post #11

The claim that this was caused by transaction malleability rings hollow. The reference client (github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) does not resend transactions because of malleability. The only way you can have double transfers due to malleability is if you are manually reviewing transfers and re-sending them yourself manually. This seems like a very convenient scapegoat.

Yeah. The moment I got to " a vendor exploited a recently discovered vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol known as “transaction malleability”" I was like "Riiiiight....". It's not even 'recently discovered', and as far as I understand it it does not let anyone to drain other persons' wallet (if it did, that'd be a killer to entire bitcoin the moment it was discovered)

They wanted to exit the business from the start. Saw a convenient time with everyone discussing a vulnerability, claim right away that vulnerability was used to steal all the money to avoid backlash from users.

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#26
post #15

Not having very much knowledge about the financial industry - is this also an issue with marketplaces that deal with fiat monies? i.e. Dwolla, Balanced, Stripe, Venmo, all serve as intermediaries for moving money - do these companies have bank accounts that hold onto massive sums of money? What protections would go into keep those accounts secure?

I have the sense that the protections in place on above-the-board, regulated financial services companies are more meaningful than those placed on companies dedicated to selling contraband. (That is: none)

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#27
post #15

Not having very much knowledge about the financial industry - is this also an issue with marketplaces that deal with fiat monies? i.e. Dwolla, Balanced, Stripe, Venmo, all serve as intermediaries for moving money - do these companies have bank accounts that hold onto massive sums of money? What protections would go into keep those accounts secure?

Modern banking is over 100 years old. There is 100+ years of fraud protection processes, legal experience, etc built into the system, plus a huge and complex industry that has a vested interest in overall currency stability.

Bitcoin and other digital currencies are learning firsthand what it means to "disrupt" on this scale. Part of that is learning the hard way what the old industry has known since before any of us were born.

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#28

The claim that this was caused by transaction malleability rings hollow. The reference client (github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) does not resend transactions because of malleability. The only way you can have double transfers due to malleability is if you are manually reviewing transfers and re-sending them yourself manually. This seems like a very convenient scapegoat.

I thought the 'malleability' problem only resulted in miners being DDOS'd. The transactions themselves were supposedly still 'intact' - i.e., inputs, outputs, addresses were not modified.

So.... what are SR2 saying happened here? - Is it a double spend using SR2 escrow bitcoins? - How was the malleability introduced?

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#29
post #3

Given illegal nature of Silk Road 2, I can't help but be suspicious of this explanation of the hack. If someone's sufficiently willing to flaunt laws as to operate a site devoted to selling contraband, what stops them from taking advantage of their position of power and stealing from their users?

lol and there was gullible little me thinking 'wow the hackers moved fast'

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#30
post #3

Given illegal nature of Silk Road 2, I can't help but be suspicious of this explanation of the hack. If someone's sufficiently willing to flaunt laws as to operate a site devoted to selling contraband, what stops them from taking advantage of their position of power and stealing from their users?

I see your point, but stealing from drug dealers is usually a dangerous business.

It's not like he can say "sorry, but it wasn't me. Still friends?". The risks are probably the same, so it's better to be hated AND a thief :-P
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