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The most interesting thing about bitcoins is that when the cops come and seize your big pile of bitcoins, if it's on a truecrypted drive, and you don't give the

The most interesting thing about bitcoins is that when the cops come and seize your big pile of bitcoins, if it's on a truecrypted drive, and you don't give them the password, or they shoot you because you appeared armed with a USB drive, that just increases the value of the bitcoins in general and the cops can't use it to buy a new police helicopter. This is the most dangerous aspect of bitcoins by far. If properly protected, they cannot be confiscated.

blhack 15y ago
How is this different than storing dollars in an offshore account?
- jrockway 15y ago
  It's much easier. (That's what the government hates the most: things that make it easy to subvert it. If you can subvert the government in some super difficult manner that requires a lot of effort, they don't care so much. If you can type in your paypal id and have anonymous money... that's too easy, and it makes them mad.)
eli 15y ago
I personally think the Fifth Amendment would protect you from being compelled to give up your password. But I really wouldn't want to test that theory in court.
- Jach 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure there have been cases where you're required to hand over the password. But if you use truecrypt and make a shadow OS, you can hand over the password for the fake OS with nothing serious on it and they cannot prove the existence of a shadow OS to demand a password for. Some time ago someone also mentioned that if you remember a passphrase + key and sha it for your password, then you can legally say you don't remember your password even though you know (one possible way) to generate it.
  - eli 15y ago
    "...then you can legally say you don't remember your password even though you know (one possible way) to generate it." Another theory I do not recommend testing in court.
  - getsat 15y ago
    There's some precedent both ways: You can't be forced: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html You can be forced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Boucher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Boucher Though, in the latter case he had previously given access to his system.
    - eli 15y ago
      And the prior took place at the border, where the Bill of Rights inexplicably does not always apply.
      - getsat 15y ago
        Yup, it's the Constitution-free Zone. http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-and-liberty/are-you-living-constitution-free-zone http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-and-liberty... The authors of the Federalist Papers were against a specific enumeration of individual rights because they feared that those rights would become the only ones we had. They were prescient in some ways, but I doubt any of them foresaw the entire Constitution being suspended.

blhack 15y ago

How is this different than storing dollars in an offshore account?

jrockway 15y ago
It's much easier. (That's what the government hates the most: things that make it easy to subvert it. If you can subvert the government in some super difficult manner that requires a lot of effort, they don't care so much. If you can type in your paypal id and have anonymous money... that's too easy, and it makes them mad.)

eli 15y ago

I personally think the Fifth Amendment would protect you from being compelled to give up your password. But I really wouldn't want to test that theory in court.

Jach 15y ago
I'm pretty sure there have been cases where you're required to hand over the password. But if you use truecrypt and make a shadow OS, you can hand over the password for the fake OS with nothing serious on it and they cannot prove the existence of a shadow OS to demand a password for. Some time ago someone also mentioned that if you remember a passphrase + key and sha it for your password, then you can legally say you don't remember your password even though you know (one possible way) to generate it.
- eli 15y ago
  "...then you can legally say you don't remember your password even though you know (one possible way) to generate it." Another theory I do not recommend testing in court.
- getsat 15y ago
  There's some precedent both ways: You can't be forced: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html You can be forced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Boucher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Boucher Though, in the latter case he had previously given access to his system.
  - eli 15y ago
    And the prior took place at the border, where the Bill of Rights inexplicably does not always apply.
    - getsat 15y ago
      Yup, it's the Constitution-free Zone. http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-and-liberty/are-you-living-constitution-free-zone http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-and-liberty... The authors of the Federalist Papers were against a specific enumeration of individual rights because they feared that those rights would become the only ones we had. They were prescient in some ways, but I doubt any of them foresaw the entire Constitution being suspended.