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Bitcoin wallets have been confiscated before, in multiple countries. In the Silk Road case, hundreds of thousands of bitcoins were confiscated from multiple ac

Bitcoin wallets have been confiscated before, in multiple countries. In the Silk Road case, hundreds of thousands of bitcoins were confiscated from multiple accounts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)#Arrest_and_trial_of_Ross_Ulbricht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)#Arrest... This May, the Australian government confiscated 24,518 bitcoins from someone who sold drugs online: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36412487 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36412487 Last August, the Italian government confiscated 11,000 bitcoin wallets, which contained more than 1 million Euros worth of bitcoins: https://cointelegraph.com/news/police-confiscate-11000-bitcoin-wallets-shut-down-dark-web-site https://cointelegraph.com/news/police-confiscate-11000-bitco... So, the judges were able to do something about it. So much for immutability. You can't escape the legal system just because you don't let people change the blockchain ledger.

stale2002 10y ago
And what about the tens of thousands of bitcoin addresses that have sent or received money to silk road addresses? Have THOSE people been arrested? We KNOW that they used money to pay for drugs. Doesn't mean the courts can do anything about it. Sure, there have been a few high profile arrests. That tends to happen if you start mailing thousands of drugs to people using the postal system. And just like in the real world, if someone finds your physical wallet, they can confiscate it. But the amazing thing is that we are sending money over the internet, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. No bank account freezes. And no confiscations unless they physically find you in the real world (but at that point, they can do whatever they want to you, so you've already lost.).

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Bitcoin wallets have been confiscated before, in multiple countries. In the Silk Road case, hundreds of thousands of bitcoins were confiscated from multiple ac

by twblalock 10y ago

stale2002 10y ago
And what about the tens of thousands of bitcoin addresses that have sent or received money to silk road addresses? Have THOSE people been arrested? We KNOW that they used money to pay for drugs. Doesn't mean the courts can do anything about it. Sure, there have been a few high profile arrests. That tends to happen if you start mailing thousands of drugs to people using the postal system. And just like in the real world, if someone finds your physical wallet, they can confiscate it. But the amazing thing is that we are sending money over the internet, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. No bank account freezes. And no confiscations unless they physically find you in the real world (but at that point, they can do whatever they want to you, so you've already lost.).