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It's not immediately clear to me that this is illegal. If anything, the Feds didn't "seize" the Bitcoin, they forcibly acquired a license to the wallet's privat

It's not immediately clear to me that this is illegal. If anything, the Feds didn't "seize" the Bitcoin, they forcibly acquired a license to the wallet's private key. If they didn't understand that the license was non-exclusive, well, that's not the fault of the other licensees.

TheJoeMan 4y ago
Even funnier, when his brother moved the coins it was a “theft” from the feds? Can you imagine the feds saying we seized an iPhone with a banking app downloaded on it, and then someone else goes to the bank and withdraws the cash and now “stole” it?
jeroenhd 4y ago
Following this argumentation would imply that cryptocurrencies don't provide a real value and therefore can't be stolen (which also implies that your average cryptocurrency scam is fair game because nothing of value is lost). A bank account can be seized but that access is not a license. IP is irrelevant here.
- 8note 4y ago
  A crypto wallet isn't a bank account though. A bank account has controls on who has access, with an owner to grant and revoke it. Everyone has access to use every crypto wallet
dvzk 4y ago
It may not technically be theft, but surely there’s an assortment of crimes committed by doing what he did, including but not limited to fraud, conspiracy, and interference with an investigation.
- drexlspivey 4y ago
  Are you just naming random crimes?
  - andirk 4y ago
    It is also up to and including, but not limited to wiretapping, tampering with evidence, and monetary regicide.
  - dvzk 4y ago
    Yes. To defer to the prosecution’s arguments, however, it seems that Gary was charged with the following crimes: - removal of property to prevent seizure (18 USC 2232) - money laundering (18 USC 1956) - obstruction of a criminal proceeding (18 USC 1512) - lying to federal law enforcement agents Also, the BTC were subject to forfeiture pending the resolution of the indictment against his brother.
yieldcrv 4y ago
sure Bloomberg's headline uses the word "stole" as if that was the crime Gary is accused of money laundering and other crimes, because of the money laundering and other crimes. Money laundering is a tacked on charge that requires discovering an illicit origin of the funds. Then subsequent actions, such as the laundering through additional mixers, depositing in BlockFi for collateral with clean funds loaned against the dirty ones, and using those clean funds, can all be criminalized.
8note 4y ago
I don't think license is the right word, but equal access to the FBI to that wallet
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> not immediately clear to me that this is illegal Seizure is a legal term. A yacht registered in the Marshall Islands docked in Antigua can be announced seized even before it's physically secured. Stealing that yacht and claiming YOLO isn't a valid defense.

TheJoeMan 4y ago

Even funnier, when his brother moved the coins it was a “theft” from the feds? Can you imagine the feds saying we seized an iPhone with a banking app downloaded on it, and then someone else goes to the bank and withdraws the cash and now “stole” it?

jeroenhd 4y ago

Following this argumentation would imply that cryptocurrencies don't provide a real value and therefore can't be stolen (which also implies that your average cryptocurrency scam is fair game because nothing of value is lost). A bank account can be seized but that access is not a license. IP is irrelevant here.

8note 4y ago
A crypto wallet isn't a bank account though. A bank account has controls on who has access, with an owner to grant and revoke it. Everyone has access to use every crypto wallet

dvzk 4y ago

It may not technically be theft, but surely there’s an assortment of crimes committed by doing what he did, including but not limited to fraud, conspiracy, and interference with an investigation.

drexlspivey 4y ago
Are you just naming random crimes?
- andirk 4y ago
  It is also up to and including, but not limited to wiretapping, tampering with evidence, and monetary regicide.
- dvzk 4y ago
  Yes. To defer to the prosecution’s arguments, however, it seems that Gary was charged with the following crimes: - removal of property to prevent seizure (18 USC 2232) - money laundering (18 USC 1956) - obstruction of a criminal proceeding (18 USC 1512) - lying to federal law enforcement agents Also, the BTC were subject to forfeiture pending the resolution of the indictment against his brother.

yieldcrv 4y ago

sure Bloomberg's headline uses the word "stole" as if that was the crime Gary is accused of money laundering and other crimes, because of the money laundering and other crimes. Money laundering is a tacked on charge that requires discovering an illicit origin of the funds. Then subsequent actions, such as the laundering through additional mixers, depositing in BlockFi for collateral with clean funds loaned against the dirty ones, and using those clean funds, can all be criminalized.

8note 4y ago

I don't think license is the right word, but equal access to the FBI to that wallet

JumpCrisscross 4y ago

> not immediately clear to me that this is illegal Seizure is a legal term. A yacht registered in the Marshall Islands docked in Antigua can be announced seized even before it's physically secured. Stealing that yacht and claiming YOLO isn't a valid defense.