Bitcoin Forum

http://bitcoinfaucetrelay.com/prosecutors-trace-13-4m-in-bitcoins-from-the-silk-road-to-ulbrichts-laptop/

So much for the supposed anonymity of the btc blockchain..

Bitcoin is pseudo-anonymous. This has been discussed.

They must have either used extensive manpower or have at their disposal one helluva program to complete such task. Either way, I, with just a laptop, successfully tracked BFL's bitcoin wallet addresses used to launder Sonny's over ten million dollars worth of bitcoins via BitPay sans a single purchased, albeit purchases is what's written on the invoice generated on BitPay's end. Image what I could do with even some rudimentary program in Alpha.

With the government knowing both the addresses of Silk Road and of Ross, such analysis shouldn't have been very difficult. The FBI getting this information for this guy made his job much easier.

I do however find it very interesting that the amounts this guy is saying was transferred to Ross, the amount of bitcoin seized on Ross's laptop and the amount of SR's profit per the spreadsheet on his laptop all do not match. This fact may be something that may incite reasonable doubt in the Jury

And if it is pseudo-anonymous why they haven't find bitstamp thieves yet?

Because the Bitstamp thieves will have known what they're doing properly, it is possible to cover your tracks, but Bitcoin's anonymity is only as good as the person moving the coins, most of the people who talk about anonymity etc. in cryptocurrencies are just like news journalists and completely full of shit.

I dont think someone know what he is doing when he spent up to 1 bitcoin for fees to fasten his transaction. They was thieves, hacker but it seems they was completely noob about bitcoin.  Imo this bitstamp case break down the mythi that bitcoin is not anonymous.

The analogy here is that you need to catch them first by other means, then use the evidence in their wallets to trace the coins to the Bitstamp theft.

So much for journalists and the like who say it is "anonymous" without knowing the facts - making others believe them. As above, it is pseudo-anonymous and that requires some work.

Edit: for those who value privacy, dark wallet and similar technologies will help; side chains, likewise.

Now that is a good point of argument.  ;)
At certain point, I'm sure they will need to convert to fiat and leaving some trail of breadcrumbs.

We already know this from the beginning that all the transactions will be public and no one has the illusion that will be some how not public. The blockchain is a public ledger of all transactions. The fact is that if someone can id one person with his bitcoin address he can track back all his transactions. But the core of bitcoin remain anonymous for the users. No one can find the real id of the person from a simple bitcoin address.

a) It is not a good argument.
b) No he does not have to do that.
c) A really good thief will never be caught.


Note: Bitcoin is anonymous enough, this discussion shouldn't take place again as we have had it more than plenty times already.

It's anonymous if you want it to be and you're careful. Had they not found Ross with his laptop and all his coins on there it might have been a different story trying to track the coins, but he gave the addresses up when he was caught and that's all they need to be able to follow the money trail.

Ross let up and gave his addresses. This is what led to his downward spiral that we are seeing take place now. He cooperated to another level.

I wouldn't even say that. I would say that law enforcement would need to catch them first and then the criminal would still need to have the private keys in their possession for this to work. If the private keys have been destroyed/disregarded then this method of doxxing someone is going to be much less effective

everything is traceable through the blockchain, its not completely anonymous as long as there are records, which is the blockchain

Correct. It is refreshing to see others have a noggin and can think.

It's amazing how this guy seems to consistently forget to delete his traces. From his email being public, to all those transactions via clearnet, without mixing coins...

It's amazing he did it this far.

PS: I'm not defending him. Neither condoning him.

When will people figure out that this is anonymous:

http://fightingbroke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Business-man-handing-cash-to-another-person-loaning-money-via-Shutterstock-615x345.jpg

This is not:

http://criminaljusticeclassesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/computer-forensics.jpg

Ever heard the old saying about God? If God Bitcoin did not exist it would be necessary for governments to invent him it.

Yeah.. Ok.. and "they" let some thieves to leave with a 5 million dollars away.. Expect that thieves is the "God" or "them". I think the answer is this pic and is the answer to all the questions...

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/30714150.jpg

Yeah its not bitcoins fault, if you really want to use bitcoin and stay anonymous you need to be anonymous in essence, also i would use monero and not bitcoin anyway.

Based on the spreadsheet that the prosecution has presented as one that Ross was using to keep track of SR's finances, I would say that the 144k BTC was actually belonging to SR's customers. Not long before he was arrested, SR was actually over a million dollars in the hole because of all the people he had to payoff that were blackmailing him and from the $2 million theft/loss from gox

I don't think he was actually intending to use any of the bitcoin for his own personal use, but was holding it on his laptop for security in case the SR servers were to get seized (along with the private keys) - it was essentially "chilly" storage