Bitcoin Forum

I think almost most of us already heard about the Bitcoin trader that was forced to give his Bitcoin over a gunpoint. It is quite scary that criminals are now also Bitcoin as their sort of "money" although it isn't stable to be. Now this made me think of something even larger that could possibly be a potential threat to  all of us. From government banning to these robbers, I'm starting to think that even those people dealing with illegal things from the dark net could be also the potential threat to all of us including those hackers that could just track you with your IP within seconds. I still don't have an experience touching the dark web, because it is really risky but I learned few things about it such as the Silk Market, snuff films, other things that are unimaginably messed up. Since Bitcoin is now growing and a lot of investors are already putting their money at risk in the cryptocurrency including all of us, will these people prove a real threat for all of us? I am not trying to raise a fear here, as I am just curious what could possibly be a threat for us aside from the government that tries to ban cryptos.

They can be if we as users are not cautious. If we keep bragging about our bitcoin it will attract many bad persons. However the story of this person was a bit different. He was a known trader of cryptocurrencies in the zone. Also he kept most of his bitcoins in his computer as he needed them to do heavy trading. That is not a good practice no matter the situation where you need bitcoins to trade. Even if you keep bitcoins in a hardware wallet this would not be an obstacle in anyone's trading. You can use it to send and receive bitcoins like a normal bitcoin wallet and show to the attacker I only have small amount in my desktop wallet as I lost everything in trading.
Still a very bad example and we should be all be cautious.

If you are not going there you have nothing to worry about. If you know how to secure and hide yourself searching dark web is not anything scary. If you don't search for shady websites nothing really can happen. This being said fiat is used for a lot of criminal activity as well and today we see that many markets accept there XMR because it offers anonymity, where as bitcoin fails to do so. Every transaction can be tracked on bitcoin as it is public which is why criminals would not really opt for it. You already have threats today, just make sure to take precaution measures to secure your self. Such as learning more about other operating systems and tools with which you can raise your security level a bit higher.

Problem is that you don't want to tell other people how much money you own. This is not the first case that somebody put a gun on one person because of crypto currency. There were these like cases in past. Same as you could end up being robed in the middle of the street and giving your wallet with fiat in it, forcing you to go to the bank and get the cash out for them - these things happen.

As it goes for "bad guys" you can look at recent data breaches and viruses that are showing up. You have prob heard of wannacry and petya which encrypts your hardrive and asks you for crypto money. Other things that we are seeing lately is virus-miners. As from technical side simply use systems that are more secure such as linux, don't put everything on your mobile phone etc.

That place is only safe if there is anonymity on the computer. By going there without staying anonymous then it brings risk to you and the other people.

There are a few problems with this:

1.  Bitcoin usage is arguably declining on the darknet, as a lot of users are frustrated about the fees.  This is difficult to judge but one indicator is to check the dark net markets subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/).

2.  I doubt that Bitcoin usage on the darknet has a causal relationship with hacks - and even if there is, it will be because of hackers deciding to spend their coins on the darknet, not the other way around.

Just use a VPN (or Tor like them, or both, or whatever you want).  It seems to me like your dislike of the darknet isn't very helpful or constructive.

Darkweb marketplaces can only be accessed through Tor Onion protocol, here traffic is encrypted routed through a series of nodes. I think it's not as easy as described by you to obtain an IP address behind Tor, unless you have javascript turned on. But yes, the amount of bitcoin owners that is going to be targeted for robbery is going to grow in the near future, not only society evolves, criminals do too.

Well it could be a threat, and I wouldn't advise anyone to hold it's private key or seed at home, because if criminals end up knowing about it, they can of course go to your home, and force you to transfer all your funds to their wallet. Not raising fud here as well, but it's possible. And if bitcoin gets adoption, and everyone holds BTC in their homes, it won't be hard for criminals to choose a place to rob. They could probably do it randomly, since a lot of people would be holding bitcoin. the same way we now have facilities with the sole purpose of storing gold, we might see people storing their hard wallets in secure buildings. Don't really like this idea, but we definitely need a safe option to prevent situations like this.

It’s definitely someone that he has talked to or boast to about his earnings with bitcoins who has made this attack and robbery possible and since they came with a bitcoin address ready to receive the stolen bitcoins it means that this was definitely premeditated.

Crypto money is very easy to take away. Unfortunately, this is the reality of today.

We all know that deep web is a place full of bad people (but I'm not pertaining to all because some divers only seek for hidden knowledges that are not exposed in the surface web) and a place where you can find every illegal stuffs you could imagine. So to avoid being robbed by hackers there then you should not enter it because you know now how risky it is, so simple right? There's nothing to worry about if you are not a diver at all.

But actually, here in the outside world, you are still prone to be victimized by the criminals but this will only be possible if you personally attract their interest by being vocal when it comes to your wealth. To avoid this, you should stay anonymous, never let strangers know your identity and keep all of your accounts secret. Never ever brag your earnings to others because who knows that the one who see your boastfulness will be the one who has bad intentions to you. Just work silent and earn silent.

bitcoin usage on the dark web is guaranteed to die at some point very soon. if it ain't fees rising again, it's the ever better tracking out there. it'll move entirely to monero.

i don't know why you think it's an increasing threat. as more regular people arrive the effect it has dwindles. maybe in 2011/12 20-30% of bitcoin users were using it for drugs. it wasn't really any use for anything else. now it'll be a tiny percentage.

You're being a little paranoid. Hackers are always a threat, but it's unlikely you will ever be a victim if you take proper precautions. Targeted hacks only ever happen against very high-value targets, such as corporations, and maybe a few whales. Heck, Electrum was vulnerable for quite a while and there have been no thefts as far as I know. Hacking is rarely anything like you see in the movies.

You're also free to explore the darknet with little worry because you have to use Tor for it anyway (as in, it's inaccessible without Tor or similar services), and it's pretty effective in not leaving any footprints. You should have precious little to worry about if you're going in innocently.

*Don't advice him/her to go in darkweb it's too dangerous for a decent person to go there.

They need a lot of experiments before they found a vulnerability in certain machine or system before they could exploit private things.
So this so called hackers need to have an experience in it for at least 5 years.

The only thing to protect your investment in the future is if you study also hacking specifically white-hack.

P.S If you ever wonder to go again in dark net make sure to use VPN tor isn't enough to hide your identity.

Umm... why would you say it's dangerous? You should be fine for as long as you don't engage in any illegal stuff. There are plenty of .onion Bitcoin-related sites.


I assume you mean white-hat hacking, and that's literally looking for vulnerabilities in a system and making the people overseeing it know so they could patch it. That has nothing to do with your own security, unless you start looking for vulnerabilities in everything you use.


Using a VPN  with Tor does increase your security, but Tor should suffice in most cases. The dark web is used for illegal activities precisely because it's very hard to track its users.

I think if you do not dark network, you will not be tracked. The price of Bitcoin has soared, attracting not just potential investors, but also professional theft hackers that threaten us. So we should pay attention to safety, do not get your private key hackers.

People are always looking for some kind of adventure. Darknet is providing the adventure for them. It is forbidden and risky and by that terms, it is also interesting. Not all darknet users are scammers, hackers, demented minds. Some of them are actually looking for information that is hidden because the public reveals are not pleasant for all the eyes.

Government is also hiding some of the secrets that the people must know and that's why the darknet is here for. To express your opinions and learn something which you cant find about in an ordinary way!

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are actually currencies..digital money...and money can be used for both good and bad purposes...
How many people have been robbed like this guy in the world? Probably just him and another couple of guys..and how many people get robbed in the traditional way everyday?
I think we shouldn't worry about that so much yet..  ;)

This is a constant threat that hackers would have been extremely dangerous on the Internet, not to mention encrypted forums.

In my opinion, the reason hackers choose to pay ransom for bitcoin is because Bitcoin not only has advantages over other traditional payment tools, but also is the best choice among other virtual currencies.

I also heard someone was mugged at gunpoint and the robbers took his "cash, jewelry, watch,..." and ran away. maybe you should also be worried that this mugging is a "threat" to watch companies, jewelry makers and the banks!

here is a pizza shop robber: http://www.wcvb.com/article/police-pizza-shop-robber-is-former-employee/15948334
maybe the "pizza industry is under threat" too :D

how do you ban a robber (thief)? maybe you mean they ban robber (condoms)?

these people have been dealing with illegal things for years before even bitcoin was invented! and they will continue doing so with cash and other ways of transferring money. why are you threatened by it?

WHAT?!!

....none of which are new or even related to bitcoin!

if they do, then they also prove a real threat to all of us at a higher level because they use cash a LOT more than they may use bitcoin and cash is used by ALL of us a LOT more than bitcoin.

This is dangerous to use dark net.Many people use it as a easy way to use BTC at a dark side payment but it is illegal and harmful for regular BTC  user.
“Now, there are a few problems because it’s a decentralised network which means that it’s also a decentralised security. With new technology comes new risk.

Hackers who choose bitcoin for ransom because of the anonymous nature of bitcoin can avoid being tracked by the government and can not find the source of the money, which is safe for them, which is why Bitcoin is so popular with criminals.

Hello everyone, share someone thinks! I did not even hear such a name, to be honest. Thank you!

What you are expecting from cryptos? They are safe unless you disclose your details and private keys to anyother person. Even if you put your money inside the core of earth there are posssibilities that someone can steal it.
Its upto the person that how he/she can secure his/her money, don't point out the darknet market.
It's not that simple as you are stating, darkweb users can't easily trace the your ID through IPs. And if you are much afraid of it then better to use VPNs because we have variety of them to secure our network.

Stop being alarmistic. If you are not afraid of hackers from the clear net (Internet), then there is no reason for you to fear hackers from the dark net. Follow clear privacy and security practices, ensure that all software is updated, have a firewall and effective anti-virus in place - then you should be safe.

As far as I am informed that person who got robbed was a bitcoin trade company owner. Thus it was not rocket science to figure out he owned bitcoins.

The general advice people has been giving after that incident was to keep low profile (to stay under radar), and split your funds into small amount address (like checking) and your savings address. If it is possible, disclose the address with smallish amount to robbers (if the robbery actually takes place, that is).