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"the entire point of bitcoin is circumventing seizure" [citation needed] There are many reasons to want to use Bitcoin. Plus it is much more seizure resistan

"the entire point of bitcoin is circumventing seizure" [citation needed] There are many reasons to want to use Bitcoin. Plus it is much more seizure resistant than centralized systems like banks.

SilasX 13y ago
Well, I think there's a weaker, but still alarming claim to be defended here: that one reason is the ease of circumventing seizure; that that reason props up the value of BTC somewhat; and that that reason has become weaker, hurting its value, and possibly the network effects it needs to take off.
- tlrobinson 13y ago
  This incident doesn't tell us anything new, unless the DEA seized these bitcoins by cracking ECDSA or wallet encryption, which is pretty unlikely.
sliverstorm 13y ago
[citation needed] Yeah, the more I read about bitcoin in the media, the more I've decided people are projecting on the currency what they want it to be about. The entire point of Bitcoin is anonymity! The entire point of Bitcoin is to be able to do things that sound suspiciously like laundering money! The entire point of Bitcoin is to circumvent seizure! I just wonder what will be next on the list.
- jaekwon 13y ago
  It is all of those things; different facets of the same gem.
  - TylerE 13y ago
    It is trivially proved to be non-anonymous. Pseudonymous, yes, but not anonymous.
- rtpg 13y ago
  I've always wondered why people would use Bitcoin to launder money. I mean, in a "real" investigation on the fact, Bitcoin's blocktree serves as an infalsifiable ledger that can trivially be analysed by a computer. Would make laundering harder, not easier in my opinion.
  - mikegioia 13y ago
    I'm just speculating, but I'd imagine it's easier to "wash" bitcoins then it would be to wash other currency.
    - dragontamer 13y ago
      Yeah, but it is also far far easier to unravel the washing of bitcoins. Every transaction in BTC is recorded in the public blockchain _forever_. A good enough computer has infinite amounts of time to analyze the transactions of BTCs after the fact. I dare say it is impossible to properly launder money with BTCs as it is. (ZeroCoins or other protocol extensions notwithstanding)

"the entire point of bitcoin is circumventing seizure" [citation needed] There are many reasons to want to use Bitcoin. Plus it is much more seizure resistant than centralized systems like banks.

SilasX 13y ago

Well, I think there's a weaker, but still alarming claim to be defended here: that one reason is the ease of circumventing seizure; that that reason props up the value of BTC somewhat; and that that reason has become weaker, hurting its value, and possibly the network effects it needs to take off.

tlrobinson 13y ago
This incident doesn't tell us anything new, unless the DEA seized these bitcoins by cracking ECDSA or wallet encryption, which is pretty unlikely.

sliverstorm 13y ago

[citation needed] Yeah, the more I read about bitcoin in the media, the more I've decided people are projecting on the currency what they want it to be about. The entire point of Bitcoin is anonymity! The entire point of Bitcoin is to be able to do things that sound suspiciously like laundering money! The entire point of Bitcoin is to circumvent seizure! I just wonder what will be next on the list.

jaekwon 13y ago
It is all of those things; different facets of the same gem.
- TylerE 13y ago
  It is trivially proved to be non-anonymous. Pseudonymous, yes, but not anonymous.
rtpg 13y ago
I've always wondered why people would use Bitcoin to launder money. I mean, in a "real" investigation on the fact, Bitcoin's blocktree serves as an infalsifiable ledger that can trivially be analysed by a computer. Would make laundering harder, not easier in my opinion.
- mikegioia 13y ago
  I'm just speculating, but I'd imagine it's easier to "wash" bitcoins then it would be to wash other currency.
  - dragontamer 13y ago
    Yeah, but it is also far far easier to unravel the washing of bitcoins. Every transaction in BTC is recorded in the public blockchain _forever_. A good enough computer has infinite amounts of time to analyze the transactions of BTCs after the fact. I dare say it is impossible to properly launder money with BTCs as it is. (ZeroCoins or other protocol extensions notwithstanding)