FBI Stymied By Bitcoins

[mrjarrell]

Guess they thought it would be all wine and roses and looted booty after they busted up Silk Road and arrested the Dread Pirate Roberts. Now they're finding out that they have no way to access the bitcoins they seized from the members of Silk Road or Roberts. There's a lot a money there and, unless they know how to decrypt the wallets they'll never get their grimy hands on it. LOL. Modern tech has finally come up with a way to stop the government from enriching themselves by seizing money. It may not be usable by its true owners, but the FBI and .gov are never going to see a penny of profit off of it.

Ignorant FBI Agents Realize They Can't Open Bitcoin Digital Currency Wallet | The Libertarian Republic

 

[Trigger Time]

I think that's great! Keep them off on wild goose chases tying up their resources.

 

[Expat]

Congress will have to study making it illegal to use Bitcoin...

 

[gunworks321]

So, this is where wallet ended up?

 

[Stickfight]

Congress will have to study making it illegal to use Bitcoin...

They should check to see how making it illegal to buy drugs with regular money is going first. Then maybe call up the music industry and ask how making it illegal to share music went. Bitcoin is going to be orders of magnitude harder than both of those.

 

[jedi]

They should check to see how making it illegal to buy drugs with regular money is going first. Then maybe call up the music industry and ask how making it illegal to share music went. Bitcoin is going to be orders of magnitude harder than both of those.

&
It just means the .gov will get to create yet another JBT agency that's sole focus will be on going after bitcoin users/transactions.
That new agency will off course need many JBTs and lots of resources to do the 'war on bitcon'*

*I'm sure someone will come up with a better scary name that is for the safety of the children and all.

 

[jrogers]

The whole point was to shut down Silk Road. Using seized funds would certainly be a nice bonus, but the takedown wasn't motivated by a lust for BTC.

Honestly, BTC is a joke. It astonishes me that so many people take it seriously. We'll see how well it's regarded in a few years.

 

[deal me in]

The whole point was to shut down Silk Road. Using seized funds would certainly be a nice bonus, but the takedown wasn't motivated by a lust for BTC.

Honestly, BTC is a joke. It astonishes me that so many people take it seriously. We'll see how well it's regarded in a few years.

I've never used Bitcoin myself, but I don't see how it's any more of a joke than Federal Reserve Notes. Neither has any intrinsic value, neither are real money, but both are currency.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Word going round the nets is that Atlantis tipped off the FBI and actively assisted with research/intel so Atlantis could wipe out the competition.

 

[jrogers]

I've never used Bitcoin myself, but I don't see how it's any more of a joke than Federal Reserve Notes. Neither has any intrinsic value, neither are real money, but both are currency.

Yes, I know they're both "Fiat Currency," but one is issued by a major world government and is highly valued worldwide while the other one is an flawed cryptocurrency proof of concept that offers neither value stability nor anonymity.

Although if you want to buy illegal stuff on the deep web and feel like gambling that no one cares enough to track you down BTC is a better fit. For everything else might as well embrace those FRNs in spite of their lack of "intrinsic value."

 

[HeadlessRoland]

... highly valued ...

Interesting choice of words given that our currency is worth less than one percent of its original value.
From the time when the dollar was fixed to - and at parity with - one troy ounce of gold, the value of fiat currency has decreased in comparison by roughly 1300-1400%, depending on the market.

Already, since its inception, Bitcoin has varied wildly against the dollar, but is currently running at a ratio of 136:1 against the dollar this morning, it means that the market values even ANOTHER ELECTRONIC-ONLY FIAT CURRENCY as being 136 times more valuable than our national fiat currency. The current situation could not be spelled out more clearly than if it had been written on the wall in Europium-laced glow-in-the-dark paint: the end of our national fiat currency and the financial keynesianism that serves as its underpinning, is at the very verge of breakdown.

 

[jedi]

Imperial credits anyone?

 

[Leo]

About 30 years ago, I was involved in a trade association in Illinios. It was based on barter. For example I could do $500 worth of work at a restaurant. He would list me as owed $500. I could go to a participating music store and buy a guitar amplifier. Now my $500 credit is owned by the music store. They could then take their employees to dinner at the original restaurant.

I had a conventional job, and paid conventional taxes, but the trade association could be a fun way to earn toys. (Too bad there were no gun shops)

The IRS caught wind of it and arrested everyone that was in the workings of the organization and confiscated all the records, so the value of everyones work disappeared. I guess the IRS sent the message that they don't want you to do any work without paying them for the permission.

I'll bet that bit coins are making the IRS have nightmares.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Imperial credits anyone?

Assuming there's anything approaching 100% pure silver in that, I'd rather accept metal tokens with no face value derived from a popular fictional film than to accept Federal Reserve Notes.

Edit: Upon further inspection, I notice that coin is one troy ounce .999 silver. Deal.

 

[printcraft]

Imperial credits anyone?

Imperial credits are no good out here. I need something more real.
Oh and before you try, I'm a printdarian, your mind tricks won't work on me.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

About 30 years ago, I was involved in a trade association in Illinios. It was based on barter. For example I could do $500 worth of work at a restaurant. He would list me as owed $500. I could go to a participating music store and buy a guitar amplifier. Now my $500 credit is owned by the music store. They could then take their employees to dinner at the original restaurant.

I had a conventional job, and paid conventional taxes, but the trade association could be a fun way to earn toys. (Too bad there were no gun shops)

The IRS caught wind of it and arrested everyone that was in the workings of the organization and confiscated all the records, so the value of everyones work disappeared. I guess the IRS sent the message that they don't want you to do any work without paying them for the permission.

I'll bet that bit coins are making the IRS have nightmares.

Yeah, the IRS definitely makes us register all barter exchanges and all trade dollars now. (1099-B?) I have no idea as to whether this has always been the case, but I'm certain that they're not happy about being kept out of the loop.

 

[jedi]

Imperial credits are no good out here. I need something more real.
Oh and before you try, I'm a printdarian, your mind tricks won't work on me.

Well since you won't take the imperial credits *cough* .99 pure silver *cough* it seems you prefer imperial notes then....

These are just as wothless as these...

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Well since you won't take the imperial credits *cough* .99 pure silver *cough* it seems you prefer imperial notes then....

These are just as wothless as these...

That's a bit of an exaggeration. For instance, I won't work for you for Imperial fiat money, but I will work for you for US dollars.

 

[Libertarian01]

To All,

More of a legal geek interest question but, can the FBI (or any .gov) seize something that in theory has no value and does not exist?

I understand that they may claim these are "assets" but can they prove that these bitcoins are legally an "asset?" And IF they do, does that then mean that the .gov is setting precedent to legally acknowledge that these are de facto currency that would "now" be recognized by the USGovt?

I could see the defendants argument that the FBI cannot seize these because the law does not allow them to, as it is not an "asset" or "profit" from a crime. The FBI would then have to argue that these do have value and represent profits, painting the whole government into the corner on accepting their "value."

Regards,

Doug

 

[jedi]

That's a bit of an exaggeration. For instance, I won't work for you for Imperial fiat money, but I will work for you for US dollars.

read it again in purple since it went over your head the first time.

To All,

More of a legal geek interest question but, can the FBI (or any .gov) seize something that in theory has no value and does not exist?

I understand that they may claim these are "assets" but can they prove that these bitcoins are legally an "asset?" And IF they do, does that then mean that the .gov is setting precedent to legally acknowledge that these are de facto currency that would "now" be recognized by the USGovt?

I could see the defendants argument that the FBI cannot seize these because the law does not allow them to, as it is not an "asset" or "profit" from a crime. The FBI would then have to argue that these do have value and represent profits, painting the whole government into the corner on accepting their "value."

Regards,

Doug

Hum.. now that is interesting. UC for sure...