Bitcoin Forum

Federal government has accused a 32-year-old Texas man of engineering a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. :-\ :-\

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/ap/feds-announce-st-bitcoin-securities-fraud-case/article_948a0974-818f-55cc-b17a-2242f56a97cc.html

This is wonderful news! Sooner than expected, the bitcoin world will become safer \o/

It is too bad that the scam/ponzi collapsed ~2 years ago and the money that was stolen has long been spent, making it unlikely that investors will ever recover. Plus the fact that since his ponzi collapsed many others have followed in his footsteps who will likely not be prosecuted because their scam was not large enough to get the attention of law enforcement

Yup, we need a better way to secure bitcoin from scam and ponzi. Waiting for feds isn't going to be a good idea....

This case is a criminal one, so it's about retribution more than anything else.  A lot more people are deterred by the prospect of a jail term than by a civil judgement or a fine.  No, it doesn't make victims whole in any way but if he were to receive a substantial sentence then it sets a precedent for the future and sends the message that fraud using Bitcoin is still fraud. 

It wouldn't deter every would-be fraudster, of course, but knowing that there's already someone serving a long jail sentence for Bitcoin fraud will deter some people from a similar path.  Right now, we can't point to much in the way of meaningful consequences which have been suffered by those who've perpetrated Bitcoin frauds - the sooner that changes, the better.

I think the point was that the government was too late (and took too long) to bring charges against this guy as many people have already followed in his footsteps, have successfully scammed and will likely get away with it