Bitcoin Forum

From the New York Post:
http://nypost.com/2013/12/23/government-robbed-me-of-33m-in-bitcoins-silk-road-pirate/


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Indirectly he's delaying his own verdict by doing this, I suppose. Unless they just throw it out and get on with the main issue at hand. Like everyone else, I want to know how they go about auctioning them off -- if they even do it, that is. There may be growing incentive to hold on to them for other reasons...

This is rather unusual.  When the feds seize alleged drug money, claiming that it's yours usually isn't a good strategy.

Anyone have a copy of the actual filing?

Well at least we'll get more judges talking about bitcoins...

Ha, that's what I thought.

of course he will get his money back.....NOT  :P

I agree, the odds of a Federal Judge giving him the bitcoins back is very, very, low. I think he is fighting for himself and crypto-currencies too. Questions are:

1. Will they force him to disclose any private keys he hasn't disclosed?
2. How will the classify bitcoin?
3. What will become of it? Auction? Ignored?

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1) How will they force him? They might try give him a longer sentence perhaps, but I don't think they're gonna torture them out of him.
2) I think they classify them as assets or just seized funds.
3) The feds have said they're gonna liquidate them. How, I do not know, but I hope they don't dump them all at market at once.

Reminds me if what O.J. said right after his trial, "So can I get my gloves back now?"

This is stupidity, isn't it? If he claims that the coins are his own, then he is indirectly admitting that he ran SR 1.0 as an owner. Else, if the Feds ask him how he came to the possession of so many coins, what will be his answer?

Maybe the evidence against him is strong enough that his best bet is to try to recover the Bitcoins to pay for the best defense he can get. Admit guilt, try to get the lowest possible sentence. Might make sense if the situation were desperate and no decent bargain was on the table for an outright confession. And it certainly does look like a pretty desperate situation for Ulbricht...

1. Even if he claims that the BTCs are his own, he will not get them as they are currently seized as a part of the investigation. Plus, it was accumulated through illegal activities.

2. The lowest possible sentence here seems to be life without parole. Then why bother with a confession?

I'm sure there must be some logic/reasoning as to why he's filing a suit to reclaim them. When does his trial start?

He's contending the coins weren't legally subject to seizure. If that seems like a very thin straw to hang on to, maybe that's all he's got right now.

They are encrypted in a wallet which Im sure he has backed up and waiting for his release, why would he admit to owning them? It cant help his criminal case. Im baffled...

Are you sure they're safe and encrypted? If he had back-ups why would he bother suing? I'm sure the Feds cracked them and they've been transferred into the Feds wallet, but I could be wrong.

The coins were transferred to a different wallet a few hours after Ullbricht was arrested. So I think that the FBI is in possession of the private keys / passwords.

I think there was two sets. The ones they got from seizing SR, and his own personal stash from commissions.

Is it so? I thought that the FBI seized some 140,000 BTCs, all of which were held in a single online wallet.

There are two addresses:

https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH (https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH) with 144,341.52165741 BTC allegedly DPR's personal stash

and

https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX (https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX) with 29,658.53150978 BTC allegedly the SikRoad operating wallet(s).

Both are under the control of the US Government.

innocent until proven guilty... but you all don't care about that do you.

i mean this could all be some cover for the real DPR, maybe poor, young Ross was just given 200k coins to stand trial and if he makes it out alive he is set, otherwise he still gets a movie.

you just need one or two hard headed potheads on the jury to do some good ole jury nullification and get a hung jury.

i would never hire any of you for my legal defense were I an alleged internet traffic godfather, just sad giving up before the fight has even gotten started!

Most of the coins were moved in to this wallet on October 24 and October 25, probably by the FBI. Ullbricht was arrested several weeks earlier.

while i don't hate the guy, it's hard to call him anything but foolish. he was still living in the U.S., left trails to his personal identity, didn't use enough encryption to protect his assets, and then he asked for the personal identification of his team (without destroying/hiding their personal info)...

He wasn't foolish. Definitely not. However I'll agree that he was somewhat overconfident. He miscalculated or perhaps underestimated the powers of the FBI.

He did quite a lot of foolish things, especially within regards to setting the site up.

He claims he's not DPR.  This could get interesting.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/12/25/ross-ulbricht-im-not-the-dread-pirate-roberts-but-the-bitcoins-are-still-mine/

WOW.  Didn't see that coming.   ::)

Yea - something tells me this will be a landmark case for BTC in the USA.  I do agree with the reporter, though - always seems a little backwards when the accused isn't allowed to use their resources to defend themselves.  Guilty until proven innocent.

Either

1. He is DPR and the coins are his

or

2. He is not DPR, and the coins don't belong to them.

Only two possibilities. Sorry.