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> It can't be confiscated It can't be confiscated if you manage to keep it completely hidden since the second it was mined... just like any other currency. In

> It can't be confiscated It can't be confiscated if you manage to keep it completely hidden since the second it was mined... just like any other currency. In some ways Bitcoin is a lot more traceable than regular money, which can change hands as cash repeatedly with no traceability. If a court asks you to hand over something and you refuse you might as well spend time in prison until you have a change of heart. You can be compelled to produce the wallet and since transactions are traceable it's possible to calculate how much BTC was mined. Unless the BTC was mined into an obscure wallet that can't be traced back to this guy there's no easy (any?) way to hide how much he mined. Because this isn't about how much BTC the guy controls now (he could just transfer it all and claim there's none left) but how much was mined.

im3w1l 7y ago
Nah, even if you know someone controls the coins you can't confiscate them. You can put the person in jail, you can torture them - sure. But until they spit out the key you can't take the coins you know they have.
- jtbayly 7y ago
  Right, but that's the whole point. You don't get to just live on the lam because you are rich. You have to actually pull it off. If you wait until they throw you in jail for contempt of court, it's too late. At that point your choices are comply or rot in jail. You can say that's a special feature of Bitcoin, but it isn't. It's the same with gold bullion or cash that you've hidden.
  - im3w1l 7y ago
    Many countries have maximum sentences. If a pile of money is big enough, someone might opt to spend 20 years in prison for it.
    - close04 7y ago
      In the US people are already serving indefinite prison sentences for being in contempt until they comply with a court order [0]. This is an open ended sentence. But the claim made above was that the whole point of BTC is that it cannot be confiscated. In reality it can be confiscated to the same extent to which any currency/valuable can be confiscated. You can't confiscate things you don't know about or can't get to and this is applicable to anything: money in hidden off shore accounts, art in an obscure warehouse, jewelry buried under a house, etc. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/23/francis-rawls-philadelphia-police-child-abuse-encryption https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/23/francis-r...
    - gamblor956 7y ago
      Contempt of court is considered an ongoing act, meaning that the person in contempt can be held indefinitely until they are no longer in contempt of court. See e.g., Chelsea Manning.
zelly 7y ago
The difference with btc is that the act of confiscation becomes extracting a passphrase stored in one's mind instead of moving physical atoms. Historically physical assets have been seized countless times.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

im3w1l 7y ago

Nah, even if you know someone controls the coins you can't confiscate them. You can put the person in jail, you can torture them - sure. But until they spit out the key you can't take the coins you know they have.

jtbayly 7y ago
Right, but that's the whole point. You don't get to just live on the lam because you are rich. You have to actually pull it off. If you wait until they throw you in jail for contempt of court, it's too late. At that point your choices are comply or rot in jail. You can say that's a special feature of Bitcoin, but it isn't. It's the same with gold bullion or cash that you've hidden.
- im3w1l 7y ago
  Many countries have maximum sentences. If a pile of money is big enough, someone might opt to spend 20 years in prison for it.
  - close04 7y ago
    In the US people are already serving indefinite prison sentences for being in contempt until they comply with a court order [0]. This is an open ended sentence. But the claim made above was that the whole point of BTC is that it cannot be confiscated. In reality it can be confiscated to the same extent to which any currency/valuable can be confiscated. You can't confiscate things you don't know about or can't get to and this is applicable to anything: money in hidden off shore accounts, art in an obscure warehouse, jewelry buried under a house, etc. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/23/francis-rawls-philadelphia-police-child-abuse-encryption https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/23/francis-r...
  - gamblor956 7y ago
    Contempt of court is considered an ongoing act, meaning that the person in contempt can be held indefinitely until they are no longer in contempt of court. See e.g., Chelsea Manning.

zelly 7y ago

The difference with btc is that the act of confiscation becomes extracting a passphrase stored in one's mind instead of moving physical atoms. Historically physical assets have been seized countless times.

deleted 7y ago
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