Bitcoin Forum

I have never tried to follow where a coin came from or where it is now...what tools can i use to do this?

is there a goot how to written somewhere?

blockchain.info.

Just follow the links, you can trace any coin forward to its final location(s) or back to its genesis block.

Out of curiosity, what information are you hoping to glean?

I was reading about the 25000 stolen bitcoins, and the discussion on how many think bitcoins are not connected back to you. Then I also see people offering laundering services, for a fee. Can you not just send all your bitcoins from one wallet and request a cashout to another wallet? Why would you need to pay someone to launder your bitcoins?

I think i understand enough about the hardware when it comes to mining. BAMT is running excellent. I think this should be my next step in learning more about bitcoins.

Simple because it is obvious you still have the stolen coins.

What question are you answering?

The coins probably ended up on mt gox.

maybe, but if gox was pushed they would be able to find out who it was easily, because if you put money into gox and need to pull it out as cash, its going into a bank account somewhere, so its not that anonymous(is that the spelling?)

Here's a scary thought.

Say a reputable businessman who accepts Bitcoin decided one day to use a mixer, but not for nefarious reasons. Let's also say that the government in some point of time starts monitoring these mixers. Once this businessman enters his coins into the mixer, he's immediately put on the NSA's No-Fly list, thus making all his future travel plans miserable.

~Bruno~ (not Dylan Bruno)

lets say i was a salesman...and I sold stuff on a site called Silk Road...how do i hide where my coins are coming from?

Use a mixer.

ok im starting to get it...here is another question...lets say i buy a lot of porn, and do not want my wife to know. so i have a second wallet and all porn transactions are used with that wallet. eventually i want to put the coins in my main wallet. can the porn wallet use silk road as a mixer?

What stops a rogue entity from creating many wallets and simply transferring micro payments back and front between them, thus generating billions of needless transactions, all for the sake of creating a bigger luggage for the client to lug around?

Transaction fees.  You can do it but you need to either
a) wait long time between transaction = limits # of transactions based on time.
b) pay increasingly large fees = limits # of transactions based on funds.
c) mine your own blocks = limits # of transactions based on hashing power.

Silk road wallet is mixed.

Overheard at an FBI convention:

Special Agent Hoover: Thanks for ordering for us those Satoshi & Nakamoto cocktails. So, what department do you work in?
Special Agent 1Tolson1: Blockchain Forensics.

~Bruno~ (not Angelo "The Gentle Don" Bruno)

http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/2496/are-bitcoins-inherently-fungible