Probably no more than hedgefunds or the banking industry have established religions.

I don't really understand the proof of stake idea.  Can you give me a this is like something in home ownership?  Most homes in the US are mortgaged to banks so really the banks seem to own the homes.  But suppose something like Fortress bought all the mortgages from the banks?  Would Fortress own all the homes?

[quote author=BTCtester.com link=topic=5339093.msg57060985#msg57060985 date=162161978

I conclude that our police simply do not have enough experts to follow up on something like this.
[/quote]

And where an exchange touted that the bitcoins deposited in their exchange couldn't be traced, that created a disincentive for authorities to effectively recover stolen bitcoins.  Like the move to defund the police over perceived racial bias.

soy1003

The Profile image brings to my mind the comedian gypsy lady with an accordion sitting on a piano who's catch phrase was something like: Hey, you don't know, it could happen!

Maybe for reasons of his own he wants to make Marc Karpeles brag, in a chat room that he could push the value of btc up or down at will, like it was no big deal.  Like, see - I can do that easily.

soy1003

The US shutdown BTC-e in Bulgaria because they refused to comply with proof of identity FINCEN requirements and bitcoin laundering.  Vinnik was arrested in Greece by the Greeks with US authorities but held that his Russian Orthodox faith was essentially the same as Greek Orthodox and so shouldn't be held in US jails.  Don't know why, the Russian Orthodox church has a huge estate on Long Island Sound near where I lived and a church in a town a little ways away.  So, the Greeks sent him to France where he is awaiting trial.  

I went off the subject a bit but what I started to ask is why doesn't FINCEN play wack-a-mole with every exchange accepting bitcoin ransoms or extortions if they can't provide individual identification of the perps.  Or is it a case that Russia won't comply with FINCEN requirements?  What's the answer?  Maybe break up the internet the way the EU is banning flights to Russia and Belarus while they support Alexander Lukashenko?  Heck many of my missing ~11.8 btc might be in Russia if reports Vinnik had a boss there who may now have much of the MtGox stolen btc as well as btc stolen from other exchanges over the years are true.

soy1003

A couple of things regarding dothebeats post.

In this age when every customer is video'd at every Walmart checkout and police simply park a car with license plate reader and video at an exit to film drivers after they've removed their facemasks, anonymity today isn't expected.  It's the world we live in today.

And with bitcoin thieves having stolen over 11.8 btc from me, I don't want crypto currency anonymity.

Sextortion: I had a compromised password.  No cellphone nor camera have been in my bedroom.  I got a one of those sextortion demands.  I ignored it.  They target those with a compromised password not those they've hacked.

soy1003

Vinnik (BTC-e) “obtained” funds from the hack of Mt. Gox and laundered them through BTC-e and Tradehill, another San Francisco-based exchange he owned according to an article on Reuters.  Stolen bitcoins from MtGox were sent to BTC-e thence to Tradehill thence the laundered bitcoins went back to MtGox.  Who stole the bitcoins hasn't been revealed or not yet determined.  The theft and laundering had been going on for years.

Reportedly Karpeles had bragged in an online chatroom that he could pump up or lower the value of bitcoin at will.  That circular movement of stolen bitcoins seem a perfect mechanism for effecting the price of bitcoin on MtGox.  I mean why would a thief put the laundered bitcoins back in the exchange from which they were stolen?  

Unless ... In the movie The Accountant staring Ben Affleck, his character describes how Crazy Eddie had pumped up the price of his electronics store stock by buying his own stock with money stolen from the stores.  When the stock was hugely overinflated he cashed out and fled to Israel.

So, around the time of Karpeles brag in a chatroom that he could change the price of Bitcoin at will, were there any suspicious transactions on MtGox from users of Tradehill leading to a change in Bitcoin price?  Would this be evidence of Karpeles stealing MtGox bitcoins?  Or only circumstantial?

Makes one wonder if Karpeles' met Crazy Eddie in Israel before moving to Japan, or had at least heard of how Crazy Eddie did it.

soy1003

I'll just jump in here without reading the previous 14 pages.

I've two adult sons with whom I have little contact.  I want to leave them each 1 bitcoin but probably more.  Right now I'm thinking of 3 Trezor One wallets.  I've never used a wallet outside of Bitcoin-QT and use Coinbase.  If I have my btc in those 3 wallets, 2 of which would be marked clearly with the sons' names and left with an attorney (if the attorney would agree to  hold them), what information would I need send the sons so that after I die and the Trezors are sent to them, they can open and do with the btc as they please?  I have a problem with executors as experience has shown me family can't be trusted.

Would this approach be a mistake?  I know nothing of US estate law.  I think one could give family $10k/year tax free to them, understanding I would need pay tax on those $10k btc.  Not expecting to die today, perhaps transferring $10k worth of btc per year over time to the wallets designated for them could be done?  What would they need do to acknowledge receipt to the IRS without they're having the wallets?

Thanks.

Thanks logfiles.  Using blockchair.com and it's giving me the  information I need.  One thing though, if the pool charges a percentage for a payout below a certain level, is that included in the Fees listing on blockchair.com?  Thanks again.

soy1003

Years ago when I was mining regularly and I'd turn to do my taxes I'd go to blockchain.info, find the record of a payout from a pool, and hover over the btc value and get the exact dollar value of the transaction displayed.  Now with blockchain.com that information is no longer given at least as I can find.  In a volatile market I end up guessing the transaction to be worth something within a window of value span.  How can I find this more exactly?  Thanks.

soy1003

What possible reason would a person or business have to borrow bitcoin?

Exactly.  And those loaned btc could be sold in a way that can panic some, driving the price down after which the perps buy back the btc at a lower price and repay the loaned btc with less valuable btc while pocketing the profit.

I'm sure tracking the Bitcoin stolen from MtGox has been handled competently but...

Given the position of guys that were developing exchange anti-hacking software and their later involvement in stolen bitcoin tracking, I'd have to consider what is elemental in any TV crime show, that the guilty party or parties will try to insinuate themselves into the investigation.

That, and I'd not only track the Bitcoin but also look at international computer shows and what connections to MtGox were made at those times stealing bitcoin.  Who were registered in the local hotels?  Maybe guys at the hotel bar discussing MtGox and how it might be done?  Don't just look at where the bitcoin went but track those capable of doing the hack, where they were when bitcoin went missing.

After the offer to buy out MtGox claims by Fortress and  the offer to pay 23% of MtGox bitcoins on deposit as a settlement with MtGox, Fortress and Coinlab would get to profit from any stolen bitcoin later recovered.  Suppose someone in Coinlab who holds stolen MtGox bitcoin realizes he can't profit from the theft without eventually getting caught.  He or they might anonymously turn the stolen bitcoin in to the trustee after the 23% settlement and at least get something from the theft. 

soy1003

The reason I got into Bitcoin was the argument that because there will never be more than 21 million btc, Bitcoin can't suffer the printing press fate of fiat currencies.  On social security, I could see that devaluation of the dollar meant my social security dollars were losing value.  I had some 501k dollars from my last job.  I saw that with my skills in electronics I could make mining work.  My sister talked me out of it and I waited 9 months to a year before getting in.  I ran to Walmart for a money order and bought btc.  I started mining.  I got tempted to sell and buy hoping to make money trading and lost quickly like they were reading my mind.  I vowed not to do that again and didn't.  Then my gear became outdated but I kept mining and made the mistake of cashing in btc to pay the electric and was losing money as the value was low.  This was well after a bitcoin theft from an exchange was followed by Marc Kapales advertising that his exchange was safe.  I had my btc in three wallets and move them to MtGox.  I had a Merc and upgraded to a Saturn by adding a module.   KnCMiner saved my ass from getting completely wiped out with MtGox.  I wanted their next miner and if I remember sent them $10k in btc but demand was so high they couldn't get it to me in a reasonable time and refunded my btc which I put in a local wallet rather than MtGox.  I earlier got ripped off as an early investor on a Jalepeno.  They kept putting off getting it to me and then sent me a miner that by that time ran at a loss.  Anyway that's my story.

What concerns me is Bitcoin has enemies.  Forbes really sh*ts on Bitcoin.  I've assigned the Forbes news website an ip of 127.0.0.1.

Seems to me if banks can destroy Bitcoin they will.

soy1003

I apologize if this is the wrong forum but this handle doesn't have enough posts to post in serious discussion.

I hate futures.  The hedgefunds got what they deserved with the Gamestop scandal.

I see Canada has approved a Bitcoin ETF and the US is expected to follow.

Will a Bitcoin ETF allow ad hoc creation of btc?

Futures make their money by shorting stock, borrowing stock high, selling, then forcing the market down and buying back to return the now less valuable stock and pocketing the difference and cheating real owners of the stock.

75% of the US money supply has been created since 2002.  That's borrowing tomorrow's money to spend today.

Can a Bitcoin ETF cause more than 21 million btc to be created?

soy1003

(previously soy and soy39 until the handle soy was stolen and soy39 blocked)