So, does he just never visit family and friends to maintain privacy? Sounds lonely.
How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
71–80 of 96 posts
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#72I might be missing something here, but he's buying a bunch of stuff in the name of the LLC but they aren't actually LLC expenses. Isn't that a violation of tax law at minimum? Possibly something more serious like fraud, no? I have a side business and it's an LLC. I know I can't just start buying cars, houses, cell phones, etc. and claim them as business expenses. How is he doing that legitimately?
Buying them in the name of the LLC doesn't mean they are being claimed as business expenses.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#73I might be missing something here, but he's buying a bunch of stuff in the name of the LLC but they aren't actually LLC expenses. Isn't that a violation of tax law at minimum? Possibly something more serious like fraud, no? I have a side business and it's an LLC. I know I can't just start buying cars, houses, cell phones, etc. and claim them as business expenses. How is he doing that legitimately?
Buying them in the name of the LLC doesn't mean they are being claimed as business expenses.
Really? I didn't know that. I figured that was kind of a must, but apparently not.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#74I might be missing something here, but he's buying a bunch of stuff in the name of the LLC but they aren't actually LLC expenses. Isn't that a violation of tax law at minimum? Possibly something more serious like fraud, no? I have a side business and it's an LLC. I know I can't just start buying cars, houses, cell phones, etc. and claim them as business expenses. How is he doing that legitimately?
All you have to do is properly label any such spending as an owners draw or disbursement. As long as you properly report any income received and don't call personal spending a business expense you're not doing anything wrong.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#75"Bitcoin evangelist": The most anonymous way to buy things, of course, is to simply use cash .... Buys a house, in cash. Buys another "throwaway" house for his car, in cash. Buys car, in cash. And then claims: " Mr. Lopp estimates that his efforts to disappear have cost him about $30,000. " Yeah, right.
Maybe $30k net. He could have sold the old house and car for a market price and then purchased a new house and car for a little less. It is entirely believable that he found a run-down shack in North Carolina to buy for less than twenty grand.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#76This article has so little to do with Bitcoin that I think a more descriptive title would have been: "How a Very Wealthy Person Conceals His Name and Address From The Public"
"Why a Very Dishonest Bitcoin Shill Conceals His Name and Address From The Public"
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
yes, it's achievable for folks with disposable income People living in NC and TX generally have a lot more disposable income than people in CA at the same gross income level. (In that sense, those other places are more free.) pay for the house in full. A mortgage was not going to be possible. It's entirely possible for an LLC to lease property. I also know for a fact that there are people in Chinatown who, for a vari…
> People living in NC and TX generally have a lot more disposable income than people in CA at the same gross income level. (In that sense, those other places are more free.) Sure, it's just more difficult to get to the same gross income level in those places.
Except that he works his bitcoin shilling scam remotely.
Read the article: section 13.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#78I might be missing something here, but he's buying a bunch of stuff in the name of the LLC but they aren't actually LLC expenses. Isn't that a violation of tax law at minimum? Possibly something more serious like fraud, no? I have a side business and it's an LLC. I know I can't just start buying cars, houses, cell phones, etc. and claim them as business expenses. How is he doing that legitimately?
All you have to do is properly label any such spending as an owners draw or disbursement. As long as you properly report any income received and don't call personal spending a business expense you're not doing anything wrong.
Interesting. Thanks. I guess since I keep everything perfectly separated I didn't even know that was a possibility.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People living in NC and TX generally have a lot more disposable income than people in CA at the same gross income level. (In that sense, those other places are more free.) Sure, it's just more difficult to get to the same gross income level in those places.
Except that he works his bitcoin shilling scam remotely. Read the article: section 13.
>>> I'd politely disagree, for most of the points yes, it's achievable for folks with disposable income, however I don't think the average reader (NYT or HN) can afford to buy 2 new homes and 1 new vehicle all in cash.
>> People living in NC and TX generally have a lot more disposable income than people in CA at the same gross income level. (In that sense, those other places are more free.)
> Sure, it's just more difficult to get to the same gross income level in those places.
I'm not sure how you would manage to read this comment thread and think my comment is about the person in the article specifically.
Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps
#80It just all seems like cosplay. Time, expense and inconvience in order to gain anonimity from casual twitter followers? Will this protect him against a slightly funded and half motivated actor? Probably not. “Announcing Jameson Lopp as a speaker at Baltic Honeybadger 2019 Bitcoin conference #bh2019, (link: https://bh2019.hodlhodl.com ) bh2019.hodlhodl.com” https://twitter.com/hodlhodl/status/1099286199783481350 Unles…
Will this protect him against a slightly funded and half motivated actor? Probably not. There is a large contingent of online craptivists who won't be bright enough or motivated enough to get to him, and the ones who are bright enough and motivated enough will probably be more interested in other people. just follow him or grab him there At least he's crossed the threshold of people having to do that. "I don't need t…
Maybe as a bitcoin shill, he should not have crossed the threshold of people WANTING to do that to him in the first place.
Then at least he could still stay in touch with his friends and family, and so many people wouldn't be so motivated to extract their revenge on him.
But no, running his illegal get-rich-quick pyramid scheme and fooling and exploiting other people was more important to him than his own and his dog's safety.
If he wasn't just doing this for cosplay and attention, and was actually concerned about his privacy, then maybe he shouldn't have contacted the New York Times and had them write an article about him, huh?