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> Nearly all of which was later recovered. Citation needed. > Those are political problems, not problems with the banking system. If the government decides to

> Nearly all of which was later recovered. Citation needed. > Those are political problems, not problems with the banking system. If the government decides to fuck with you, then you're fucked no matter what the banking system looks like. I disagree. Has any government shut down a Bitcoin address for "structuring", or publishing pornography?

pjc50 10y ago
Ross Ulbricht got shut down pretty hard.
- timbowhite 10y ago
  Sorry I guess I wasn't specific enough. I was referring to the cryptography that makes bitcoins untouchable to anyone except the person with the private key... not some guy's crappy opsec.
  - chii 10y ago
    The weakest link is the one that gets attacked. When the tech is good, the humans become the weakest link.
lisper 10y ago
> Citation needed. Sorry, $951M was stolen. All but $81M was recovered. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nyfed-bangladesh-malware-exclusiv-idUSKCN0XM0DR http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nyfed-bangladesh-malwa... But let's put this in perspective. MtGox lost BTC600k. As a fraction of the primary money supply, that loss was comparable to a USD loss of about $35 billion (M0=$1.2 trillion). So even before most of the Bangladesh money was recovered it was only 1/30th the size of the MtGox loss. And MtGox wasn't even a theft, it was simple mismanagement. Imagine the attacks people would start to mount if they could net the equivalent of $35 billion (or more) risk-free.
- timbowhite 10y ago
  I think you're conflating Bitcoin (the system) with Bitcoin opsec skills. Yes, I agree: Bitcoin is probably easier to steal from people who don't know what they're doing. (And yes there is probably is smaller chance of the thief being caught). But as of now, properly secured Bitcoin can't be stolen by any criminal, government, or bank. Even if they have physical access to the owner's shit! The same cannot be said for any modern national/fiat electronic monetary system.
  - madeofpalk 10y ago
    Well if the Bangladesh Bank was also following proper security protocol the money couldn't have been stolen as well. The 'tech' is, more or less, the easy part. The hard part is all the people involved, and getting them to follow the rules. Sure, you make the tech more resilient to human 'error', but things like MtGox (or Bangladesh Bank) still happened.
  - lisper 10y ago
    If you want to use bitcoin in the real world then opsec skills become part of the equation whether you like it or not.
    - timbowhite 10y ago
      Couldn't agree more. Bitcoin is not for everyone. Just like using a bank account in the real world involves not divulging your account #, bank website passowrd, SSN, birthday, etc.

pjc50 10y ago

Ross Ulbricht got shut down pretty hard.

timbowhite 10y ago
Sorry I guess I wasn't specific enough. I was referring to the cryptography that makes bitcoins untouchable to anyone except the person with the private key... not some guy's crappy opsec.
- chii 10y ago
  The weakest link is the one that gets attacked. When the tech is good, the humans become the weakest link.

lisper 10y ago

> Citation needed. Sorry, $951M was stolen. All but $81M was recovered. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nyfed-bangladesh-malware-exclusiv-idUSKCN0XM0DR http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nyfed-bangladesh-malwa... But let's put this in perspective. MtGox lost BTC600k. As a fraction of the primary money supply, that loss was comparable to a USD loss of about $35 billion (M0=$1.2 trillion). So even before most of the Bangladesh money was recovered it was only 1/30th the size of the MtGox loss. And MtGox wasn't even a theft, it was simple mismanagement. Imagine the attacks people would start to mount if they could net the equivalent of $35 billion (or more) risk-free.

timbowhite 10y ago
I think you're conflating Bitcoin (the system) with Bitcoin opsec skills. Yes, I agree: Bitcoin is probably easier to steal from people who don't know what they're doing. (And yes there is probably is smaller chance of the thief being caught). But as of now, properly secured Bitcoin can't be stolen by any criminal, government, or bank. Even if they have physical access to the owner's shit! The same cannot be said for any modern national/fiat electronic monetary system.
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  Well if the Bangladesh Bank was also following proper security protocol the money couldn't have been stolen as well. The 'tech' is, more or less, the easy part. The hard part is all the people involved, and getting them to follow the rules. Sure, you make the tech more resilient to human 'error', but things like MtGox (or Bangladesh Bank) still happened.
- lisper 10y ago
  If you want to use bitcoin in the real world then opsec skills become part of the equation whether you like it or not.
  - timbowhite 10y ago
    Couldn't agree more. Bitcoin is not for everyone. Just like using a bank account in the real world involves not divulging your account #, bank website passowrd, SSN, birthday, etc.