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> ...that just seems to me like it would make ALL the resulting BTC suspect. True. All BTC that has come out of a mixer might be considered suspect. But if you

by rlpb 14y ago

> ...that just seems to me like it would make ALL the resulting BTC suspect. True. All BTC that has come out of a mixer might be considered suspect. But if you buy BTC for cash, should that be suspect? What if it turns out that the BTC that you now consider yours has been through a mixer some time in the past before it reached your hands? Take the analogy to bank notes. Are all my bank notes suspect? We accept this situation with cash. Why should Bitcoin be any different?

kevingadd 14y ago
Any BTC<->cash exchange would either be illicit or have very clear, robust records as required by the country that issues the cash currency. Isn't this already the case with the services that let you exchange BTC for USD? Also, any BTC you possess having been through a mixer in the past - yes! That seems like it could be a real problem. Here's how I see it: If I end up buying a used car, and it turns out the guy who sold it to me stole it, that doesn't somehow protect me from the consequences of the original theft. I certainly won't get to keep that car. Bitcoins aren't cars, but I wouldn't be shocked if governments decided to go overboard and say that trading in any BTC that came out of a mixer is illegal. After all, you can check the history of the BTC yourself and decide whether it's legit.
- rlpb 14y ago
  You can't realistically look at the history of BTC and determine if it came through a mixer or not. They could have been legitimate transactions. >I certainly won't get to keep that car. No. But what if you sold a car and it turned out to have been paid for with stolen cash? And what if the cash was obtained by the buyer legitimately, but his source had stolen it? How about the same situation but three times removed? You might be interested in this proposal: http://www.loper-os.org/?p=988 http://www.loper-os.org/?p=988 ("Shitcoin is to be a distributed network for attaching “dirt” to particular bitcoins...")
- jmtame 14y ago
  Any BTC<->cash exchange would either be illicit or have very clear, robust records as required by the country that issues the cash currency. Here's an exercise for you: prove that Joe purchased $100 worth of Bitcoins to obtain drugs illegally. You only know that they were purchased using a cash deposit to a BitInstant account, which was moved to MtGox. Neither of those accounts have IP addresses, e-mails, or any other type of personally identifying information. The bank doesn't have surveillance records anymore.

by rlpb 14y ago

kevingadd 14y ago

Any BTC<->cash exchange would either be illicit or have very clear, robust records as required by the country that issues the cash currency. Isn't this already the case with the services that let you exchange BTC for USD? Also, any BTC you possess having been through a mixer in the past - yes! That seems like it could be a real problem. Here's how I see it: If I end up buying a used car, and it turns out the guy who sold it to me stole it, that doesn't somehow protect me from the consequences of the original theft. I certainly won't get to keep that car. Bitcoins aren't cars, but I wouldn't be shocked if governments decided to go overboard and say that trading in any BTC that came out of a mixer is illegal. After all, you can check the history of the BTC yourself and decide whether it's legit.

rlpb 14y ago
You can't realistically look at the history of BTC and determine if it came through a mixer or not. They could have been legitimate transactions. >I certainly won't get to keep that car. No. But what if you sold a car and it turned out to have been paid for with stolen cash? And what if the cash was obtained by the buyer legitimately, but his source had stolen it? How about the same situation but three times removed? You might be interested in this proposal: http://www.loper-os.org/?p=988 http://www.loper-os.org/?p=988 ("Shitcoin is to be a distributed network for attaching “dirt” to particular bitcoins...")
jmtame 14y ago
Any BTC<->cash exchange would either be illicit or have very clear, robust records as required by the country that issues the cash currency. Here's an exercise for you: prove that Joe purchased $100 worth of Bitcoins to obtain drugs illegally. You only know that they were purchased using a cash deposit to a BitInstant account, which was moved to MtGox. Neither of those accounts have IP addresses, e-mails, or any other type of personally identifying information. The bank doesn't have surveillance records anymore.