4 ms·

>"Would you rather give us your Bitcoin now, or would you rather spend some time in jail first and give us the Bitcoin later?" A billion dollars is an enormous

>"Would you rather give us your Bitcoin now, or would you rather spend some time in jail first and give us the Bitcoin later?" A billion dollars is an enormous amount of money. The kind of money that could covertly pay an entire prison worth of guards to look the other way for an escape attempt. Of course, you end up on the run for the rest of your life, which doesn't sound especially fun.

klodolph 6y ago
You can fantasize about this James Bond stuff all you like, but one schmuck with a Bitcoin wallet probably is not going to pull it off. Bribing people isn’t so easy and reliable that you can wave a fat stack of cash in someone’s face and expect them to take it. People have lives and their careers tied up in their jobs and know that accepting a bribe isn’t a sure thing. It depends on where you live, sure. But in the US, there’s a fair bit of resistance to bribery.
- LeifCarrotson 6y ago
  Covert bribery is definitely frowned upon. Overt bribery - hiring lobbyists, event sponsorships, regulatory capture, etc - is very popular, I'd even say it's more so than in other countries.
  - CydeWeys 6y ago
    Do you really think that someone with $1B of Bitcoin could buy their way out of the kinds of serious felony criminal charges mentioned in the linked article through campaign contributions and similar? I doubt it.
    - strgcmc 6y ago
      IMO the short answer is, yes pardons can seemingly be bought in the Trumpian era of American politics. Whether $1B is enough, I don't necessarily know, but I don't see why the likelihood is something to dismiss out of hand.
      - klodolph 6y ago
        $1B is enough, but you have to be spending it on the bribes before you get caught. Once you get caught your options are limited.
      - denkmoon 6y ago
        Just having $1B isn't enough. 1B gets you in the door. You still need to know the right people to pay off. You can't just google it. This is why you see all the billionaires at their billionaire parties, good old networking.
      - pessimizer 6y ago
        It's got nothing to do with Trump, here's Clinton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Rich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Rich Trump tends to pardon the people who will get him into the news cycle, like sadistic war criminals, corrupt or openly racist officials like Blagojevich and Arpaio, or whoever Kim Kardashian told him to.
      - 55555 6y ago
        Let's not make Trump seem responsible for our incredibly overtly corrupt country. Bill Clinton was a democrat, was president before Trump, and is notorious for his seemingly-corrupt pardons. I'm no history buff so I can't go back further than my own lifespan for further examples but I bet America has been this way for a long, long time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardon_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardon_controvers... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bill_Clinton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bil...
        jollofricepeas 6y ago
        Ehh, don’t believe every political talking point you hear. You should read Swiss investigative journalist, Daniel Amman’s King of Oil. The furor over these pardons including the Marc Rich pardon was 100% political. Clinton pardoned relatively the same amount of people as previous presidents but with a heavy focus on “leftists.” Also, Marc Rich had left the US before he started working across trade embargoes and singlehandedly built the OTC oil market. He also worked actively with the US on covert oil sales while being prosecuted by the DOJ. Read: - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Oil https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Oil
    - ryanlol 6y ago
      Of course they could, they’d just need to temporarily move to a friendlier jurisdiction while working on this.
    - alasdair_ 6y ago
      I think that yes, it would be possible, especially if the person with the money was already in contact with organized crime at the level where they have a steady enough cocaine supply to sell it by the kilo (as was happening on Silk Road). Going through a few intermediaries, I don't see a reason why a presidential pardon in exchange for $100MM in crypto couldn't be arranged either, especially in the dying hours of a presidency. Obviously this is all silly spy novel stuff, but a reasonably intelligent person with mid-level or better criminal connections and literally a billion dollars to work with, coupled with a hell of a lot of motivation, could probably figure out something. All that being said, outside of real political backing (i.e. continual payments every month), I'd doubt the person would remain free for very long after the deal was done.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  You don't need to bribe people if you are on the run, and as long as you're not on the run for a fresh murder/rape case with your pictures spread all over the papers, law enforcement won't actively go out and fleece neighborhoods looking for you - they will turn up at your home, your work and any known relatives/associates though. First thing is to get away at least one town or two, preferably a couple counties, from where people might recognize you. Use rail or a taxi, and shut down your phone. Pay hotels, food, gas, anything in cash so it can't be used to track you down, get rid of your old phone/sim card/computer, don't use Facebook to contact family or "associates", don't do drugs or at least stay away from trouble (bar fights) and for heavens sake don't drive a beater car, use rail or bus instead (flights are monitored). Even crossing borders is easy in many cases. Dress up as a hiker and go for it. If you're not in a narc smuggling area and have sea access, buy a small rubber boat (with cash) and use that to get out of the country. When cash runs out: agriculture, anything in the hospitality area (hotels, motels, pubs, restaurants), cleaning and moving services, construction/teardown always have high demand for new able and willing staff, pay in cash and don't give a fuck about who you are as long as you show up on time and do your work without stealing stuff. If you're into sex work and it's legal where you are, it's a great way to make money. You need a place to stay? Every area has some sort of ... shoddy district with cheap lodging, Craigslist or whatever can get you actual cheap rentals. Other things to avoid? Mentioning you're on the run, bragging about whatever crime you did, stealing, getting into fights, driving a car (random traffic stops, "your tail light is broken"), breaking more than one law at a time. You can get a fairly long run if you stick to the above, many years even without resorting to bribery. If you are in an area where bribery is the norm though - South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa come to mind - then by all means go for it, might make your getaway a whole lot easier.
kgc 6y ago
That would require they are all educated about bitcoin, which is unlikely.

klodolph 6y ago

You can fantasize about this James Bond stuff all you like, but one schmuck with a Bitcoin wallet probably is not going to pull it off. Bribing people isn’t so easy and reliable that you can wave a fat stack of cash in someone’s face and expect them to take it. People have lives and their careers tied up in their jobs and know that accepting a bribe isn’t a sure thing. It depends on where you live, sure. But in the US, there’s a fair bit of resistance to bribery.

LeifCarrotson 6y ago
Covert bribery is definitely frowned upon. Overt bribery - hiring lobbyists, event sponsorships, regulatory capture, etc - is very popular, I'd even say it's more so than in other countries.
- CydeWeys 6y ago
  Do you really think that someone with $1B of Bitcoin could buy their way out of the kinds of serious felony criminal charges mentioned in the linked article through campaign contributions and similar? I doubt it.
  - strgcmc 6y ago
    IMO the short answer is, yes pardons can seemingly be bought in the Trumpian era of American politics. Whether $1B is enough, I don't necessarily know, but I don't see why the likelihood is something to dismiss out of hand.
    - klodolph 6y ago
      $1B is enough, but you have to be spending it on the bribes before you get caught. Once you get caught your options are limited.
    - denkmoon 6y ago
      Just having $1B isn't enough. 1B gets you in the door. You still need to know the right people to pay off. You can't just google it. This is why you see all the billionaires at their billionaire parties, good old networking.
    - pessimizer 6y ago
      It's got nothing to do with Trump, here's Clinton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Rich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Rich Trump tends to pardon the people who will get him into the news cycle, like sadistic war criminals, corrupt or openly racist officials like Blagojevich and Arpaio, or whoever Kim Kardashian told him to.
    - 55555 6y ago
      Let's not make Trump seem responsible for our incredibly overtly corrupt country. Bill Clinton was a democrat, was president before Trump, and is notorious for his seemingly-corrupt pardons. I'm no history buff so I can't go back further than my own lifespan for further examples but I bet America has been this way for a long, long time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardon_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardon_controvers... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bill_Clinton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bil...
      - jollofricepeas 6y ago
        Ehh, don’t believe every political talking point you hear. You should read Swiss investigative journalist, Daniel Amman’s King of Oil. The furor over these pardons including the Marc Rich pardon was 100% political. Clinton pardoned relatively the same amount of people as previous presidents but with a heavy focus on “leftists.” Also, Marc Rich had left the US before he started working across trade embargoes and singlehandedly built the OTC oil market. He also worked actively with the US on covert oil sales while being prosecuted by the DOJ. Read: - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Oil https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Oil
  - ryanlol 6y ago
    Of course they could, they’d just need to temporarily move to a friendlier jurisdiction while working on this.
  - alasdair_ 6y ago
    I think that yes, it would be possible, especially if the person with the money was already in contact with organized crime at the level where they have a steady enough cocaine supply to sell it by the kilo (as was happening on Silk Road). Going through a few intermediaries, I don't see a reason why a presidential pardon in exchange for $100MM in crypto couldn't be arranged either, especially in the dying hours of a presidency. Obviously this is all silly spy novel stuff, but a reasonably intelligent person with mid-level or better criminal connections and literally a billion dollars to work with, coupled with a hell of a lot of motivation, could probably figure out something. All that being said, outside of real political backing (i.e. continual payments every month), I'd doubt the person would remain free for very long after the deal was done.
mschuster91 6y ago
You don't need to bribe people if you are on the run, and as long as you're not on the run for a fresh murder/rape case with your pictures spread all over the papers, law enforcement won't actively go out and fleece neighborhoods looking for you - they will turn up at your home, your work and any known relatives/associates though. First thing is to get away at least one town or two, preferably a couple counties, from where people might recognize you. Use rail or a taxi, and shut down your phone. Pay hotels, food, gas, anything in cash so it can't be used to track you down, get rid of your old phone/sim card/computer, don't use Facebook to contact family or "associates", don't do drugs or at least stay away from trouble (bar fights) and for heavens sake don't drive a beater car, use rail or bus instead (flights are monitored). Even crossing borders is easy in many cases. Dress up as a hiker and go for it. If you're not in a narc smuggling area and have sea access, buy a small rubber boat (with cash) and use that to get out of the country. When cash runs out: agriculture, anything in the hospitality area (hotels, motels, pubs, restaurants), cleaning and moving services, construction/teardown always have high demand for new able and willing staff, pay in cash and don't give a fuck about who you are as long as you show up on time and do your work without stealing stuff. If you're into sex work and it's legal where you are, it's a great way to make money. You need a place to stay? Every area has some sort of ... shoddy district with cheap lodging, Craigslist or whatever can get you actual cheap rentals. Other things to avoid? Mentioning you're on the run, bragging about whatever crime you did, stealing, getting into fights, driving a car (random traffic stops, "your tail light is broken"), breaking more than one law at a time. You can get a fairly long run if you stick to the above, many years even without resorting to bribery. If you are in an area where bribery is the norm though - South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa come to mind - then by all means go for it, might make your getaway a whole lot easier.

kgc 6y ago

That would require they are all educated about bitcoin, which is unlikely.