Bitcoin Forum

Denmark police first in the world hunt down criminals using bitcoin.
Kim Aarenstrup, the head of Denmark’s National Cybercrime Center (NC3), said in an interview with Berlingske that these two convictions prove that Denmark is currently leading the way in cyberpolicing and that this new technology is a major milestone for police work.

We are pretty much unique in the world at this moment, because nobody else has been able to use this type of trace as evidence before. Everybody is looking towards Denmark in this field, and we are in close dialog with several other countries at the moment, so that we can further develop the methods and teach them how we operate.

The new specialized IT-system, developed by Danish law enforcement agencies, is based on comparing the information of two different types of bitcoin transactions. First, transactions where bitcoins are used to purchase goods are analyzed by exploiting the possibilities of blockchain technology, which bitcoin is based on. This information is then compared with listings of bitcoin-buyers and bitcoin-sellers.

The comparison is then used to identify the people involved in particular dealings. Aarenstrup didn’t want to go into specifics of how far-reaching this new method is, but one can imagine that it must be substantial since the FBI and Europol are already using the system.

 

Changed world for criminals

Jesper Klyve was the prosecutor in both cases where a bitcoin-trace was one of the main evidences. In his opinion there is nothing wrong with bitcoin as a currency and that people who use it are not automatically entangled in illegal activities, but that one cannot deny the fact that it makes illegal dealings easier.

Klyve says that in the past, a person had to have the necessary contacts to buy drugs, but this has completely changed with the introduction of the dark web and bitcoin. Now almost anybody can go online and buy a kilo of amphetamine and pay for it with a cryptocurrency. However, this might all change due to police’s new bitcoin-tool and Klyve is optimistic that it will provide interesting possibilities.

It is common that drug deals made on the dark web are sent by regular mail — like in the first case bitcoin-tracing was employed in Denmark — which can make it considerably harder for the police to bust criminals. But Klyve is certain that this new technology will completely change that. Now, if a suspect receives drugs by post — which he denies he ordered — the police can go over his bitcoin transaction history and see whether he has sent bitcoins to anyone recently.

“All transfers that have ever been made are coded into the bitcoin-system. Therefore, you can at any given time log in and search in the system and try to identify individual users,” said Klyve in an interview with Berlingske.

It has been pointed out before that bitcoin is probably less beneficial to criminals than originally thought,  but the two verdicts in Denmark are a clear indicator that cyberspace isn’t safe from the long arm of the law. Perhaps, it is finally time for criminals to find a new livelihood.
Source: https://thenextweb.com/eu/2017/02/21/danish-police-hunt-down-criminals-using-bitcoin/#.tnw_02bBrjob

Well, since I'm not a criminal, there's no reason for me to be afraid because of this news. I think it's nice that criminals are being caught despite resorting to non-traditional (aka fiat) way of handling their funds. It should would piss off a lot of people though, since they got into bitcoins to avoid gov't meddling with their finances.

About what you've posted above this post, well, as of now there's no free at all, fees are everywhere. About tax, let's just see when the time comes.

It’s hard being a criminal.
Surveillance techniques and forensic science are constantly being improved and people are working full-time to destroy your livelihood. That’s why many criminals around the world probably celebrated when the cryptocurrency bitcoin was launched back in 2009.

With untraceable internet currency, crooks could finally enjoy the anonymity of cash without risking being caught red-handed out in the physical world. This beautifully idyllic criminal vision could have been the future, if it wasn’t for the damn meddling Danes.

It seems unlikely that bitcoin is the future of crime after Berlingske reported that the Danish police brought down drug traffickers by tracing bitcoin transactions.

In January this year, courts in the Danish city Herning, found the defendant in a narcotics case guilty and sentenced him to eight years of prison due to traced bitcoin transactions. This is the second case in Denmark where bitcoin-tracing evidence has played a major role in the trial.

 

It seems like there are bad times to come for the drug dealers. Hansa and Alphabay is down, and now the cops are arresting drug dealers who used these sites to sell their products. But I still don't understand one thing. If these guys want to sell drugs, then why can't they move to countries such as Moldova and Ukraine, where the surveillance is not that tough?

A slight downward trend is noticeable in the reported number of drug-law offences, from 2 377 in 2003 to 1 526 in 2012 (1 607 in 2011; 1 773 in 2010;1 865 in 2009; 2 105 in 2008; 2 144 in 2007). The overwhelming majority of drug-law offences are related to cannabis products, and the proportion has increased from 57 % in 2009 to 71 % in 2012; drug offences related to opiates (heroin, poppy and poppy straw, opium) are the second most-frequent. In contrast to cannabis-related drug-law offences, the proportion of offences related to opiates has been declining, from 35 % in 2009 to 19 % in 2012 (Council of the European Union, 2013). In terms of geographical distribution, most drug-law offences are registered in the north of the country where the plants are cultivated. The majority of drug-law offenders are over the age of 30. Although there was an increase in the rate of drug-law offenders in this age group from 2007 to 2008 (48.2 % in 2007; 60.3 % in 2008), in the following years the proportion of these offenders declined to 49 % in 2011, while the proportion of those aged 25–29 and 16–17 increased. In 2011 the proportion of females arrested for drug-law offences was 15.9 %, which is less than in previous years (19.5 % in 2009; 27.6 % in 2008; 15.4 % in 2007). The data on the amount of drugs seized in the territory of the right bank of the River Nistru during 2009–12 are presented in the table below. The reporting was carried out on paper, and entering the data into electronic databases and further processing has generated difficulties. This fact reduces the quality of the data and of the inferences to be drawn from them.
A significant decrease in the amounts of poppy straw and acetylated opium seized was registered between 2009 and 2012.

I think that only criminals should be afraid.
It was just matter of time when someone will start such activity and try to find criminals using bitcoin.
Bitcoin is very specific, anonymous and decentralized.
Police can't simple contact owner or some bank because there is no central bank behind bitcoin, or owner.

And criminals aren't going to be afraid either, they will just use employ better tactics to conceal their identity like mixing services, splitting funds up into several new addresses, selling for cash.

The only criminals that are being caught are the stupid ones, its sad but its also true.

Bitcoin transactions are not 100% anonymous. They can be traced back to the user, even if he is using multiple mixing services. Also, a lot of the Bitcoin mixing services are getting taken down. Perhaps that is the reason why Bitmixer closed down recently.

Show me, how they trace Monero, pleace.

I heard it's untraceable. I wouldn't be surprised if they are busy cracking it though. Governments, as a rule, don't tolerate secrecy. Only they can keep secrets.

"If there's a will, there's a way," said the cliche. It's really an arms race between authorities and criminals. The more outlets become unavailable due to crackdowns, then the more they'll try to find a workaround.


Could be. You think it's possible to run a mixing business underground? I mean, Bitmixer is way out in the open, they even had sig campaigns here. Wouldn't cracking down on mixing services just cause them to just go deeper down the web?

Stratis is supposed to be coming with a trustless bitcoin mixing service which means it will be impossible to completely remove them and other coins will probably offer similar features on their platforms in the near future.

Stratis is supposed to be coming with a trustless bitcoin mixing service which means it will be impossible to completely remove them and other coins will probably offer similar features on their platforms in the near future.

Stratis will be probably closed down and its owners detained by the Americans even before they would be able to complete what they are doing. The authorities have made Bitcoin services as one of their prime targets.

Right!

The real problem is the Governments. A wolf in sheep's clothing...

You think it's possible to run a mixing service in the dark web? Like, it would be more word of mouth and so will not have advertisements.

Dark Web sites are not immune to government seizure, as seen from the cases of Silk Road, Silk Road 2.0, and Alphabay. They may be able to survive for sometime, but surviving for more than 12 months will be very difficult.

Regular "yellow" title! New times - new ways to combat crime. nothing unusual.

It’s hard being a criminal.
Surveillance techniques and forensic science are constantly being improved and people are working full-time to destroy your livelihood. That’s why many criminals around the world probably celebrated when the cryptocurrency bitcoin was launched back in 2009.

With untraceable internet currency, crooks could finally enjoy the anonymity of cash without risking being caught red-handed out in the physical world. This beautifully idyllic criminal vision could have been the future, if it wasn’t for the damn meddling Danes.

It seems unlikely that bitcoin is the future of crime after Berlingske reported that the Danish police brought down drug traffickers by tracing bitcoin transactions.

In January this year, courts in the Danish city Herning, found the defendant in a narcotics case guilty and sentenced him to eight years of prison due to traced bitcoin transactions. This is the second case in Denmark where bitcoin-tracing evidence has played a major role in the trial.

 

Why should we be afraid of danish police hunting criminals who conduct illegal transactions with bitcoin? As long as we do not commit a crime we need not be afraid of it.
About the taxes for bitcoin we can see in the future, whether the rules also tax laws will regulate bitcoin as well.

Germany’s largest Bitcoin exchange Bitcoin.de gave police sensitive user data on request without being obliged to by law, a report has revealed.

An exclusive piece by Vice published Tuesday unveils “at least eight cases” in which Bitcoin.de, under pressure from police but not the law, handed over personal details of customers.

Those involved in January were allegedly under suspicion of having used Bitcoin to acquire drugs from the now-defunct Chemical Love online marketplace.
“I’m speechless”
“In total, Bitcoin.de [...] relaid personal details associated with eight addresses, which included real names and nicknames, place of residence, email addresses, phone numbers, order totals, bank details, account transactions, login histories and IP addresses,” Vice writes.

The Bitcoin addresses involved had no proven links to Chemical Love, but were merely of interest to police and “could have” ties required to make a conviction.

Bitcoin.de had at first refused to cooperate without a court order, documents seen by the publication explain.

After a telephone call from police, however, “on the same day [...] it was arranged and agreed that company would at least investigate the first Bitcoin address without a court order.”

“I’m speechless,” one Bitcoin.de and Chemical Love user said reacting to the revelations. “I thought this is a serious business and that my data was safely preserved.”