> simply sell the private key in a private transaction Then why not sell it three times to three separate parties? And also keep a copy of the key and engage

> simply sell the private key in a private transaction Then why not sell it three times to three separate parties? And also keep a copy of the key and engage in some spending from the wallet themselves? I'm not saying that these particular people would engage in such trickery. But I would be very wary of any proposition to sell me bitcoins in an out-of-band transaction of this kind.