The unconfiscatable Bitcoin and what governments are to do about it.

[MyCryptoDomains]

So after reading the news story on how police can't open seized BTC wallet with $60M in it I'm thinking what governments are to do about not being able to confiscate BTC.

This a serious point of tension between any government and BTC since the govt has to have the right to seize property to protect property. I know many here rightfully don't like govt powers because of corruption but if someone steals BTC or steals something and sells it for BTC, it's imperative for a society to be able to restore the ownership of property.

What do you think will be done about it? Am I missing something?

Topic on the news story:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5315171.0

[xcaret]

Here in Canada I believe stealing BTC would be similar to steeling something like illegally downloaded videos, software, or patents . They have a resale value ,but you cant hold them in your hand.

What is available in Canada ,in a criminal court , is for the victim to ask the sentencing judge ( the defendant being found guilty) to order the guilty party to repay the victim for any loss .   

If I person were to steal a car ,and sell it for bit coin , the buyer would have the car confiscated and it would be  returned to it's rightful owner.  Assuming the thief was to be convicted ,the judge could place a monetary value on the BTC ,and then order the criminal to repay in dollars .

I doubt if today's courts would recognize BTC.

 

[hatshepsut93]

Unfortunately, this is just a tradeoff with decentralization that we have to accept. It's very similar to the situation with encryption - criminals use it, but honest people too, and there's no way to make a backdoor that would only affect the criminals. The only hope to recover funds if the criminal refuses to give the keys is to try and crack the encryption on the wallet files.

[Darker45]

There were already a number of instances in which illegally acquired Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies were successfully seized or recovered by the authorities.

Well, the authorities have the means to make the criminal crack up if the password is really nowhere to be found. There are indeed criminals who are really hard to break but the interrogating officers must know better on how to handle them.

Anyway, nothing can be done about this. This is Bitcoin. Whatever the government wants or does, Bitcoin is designed to be like this. That's probably one of the reasons why governments don't like Bitcoin and lots and lots of people prefer it.

[avikz]

So after reading the news story on how police can't open seized BTC wallet with $60M in it I'm thinking what governments are to do about not being able to confiscate BTC.

But the police can ensure that the funds locked within the wallet stays where it is and nobody can get access to it! That's confiscation as well! Yes, government wouldn't be able use that fund! So the goal is anyways reached!

This a serious point of tension between any government and BTC since the govt has to have the right to seize property to protect property. I know many here rightfully don't like govt powers because of corruption but if someone steals BTC or steals something and sells it for BTC, it's imperative for a society to be able to restore the ownership of property.

What do you think will be done about it? Am I missing something?

Topic on the news story:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5315171.0

You are right in your comment! We have seen many cases of frauds where bitcoin was involved! And unless and until the key criminal is arrested, it may be very difficult for them to serve justice and restore the ownership of the lost/stolen property! But the case you have sighted is somewhat unrelated because no restoration of ownership is needed as the hacker didn't steal anything but the computing power!

[age7393]

On the one hand, you are right, but if you approach this issue differently, then the cryptocurrency was created for anonymity, this is its main feature, otherwise it turns out then a contradiction as for me.

[3meek]

Government and bitcoin are two completely opposite things! Bitcoin gives people financial freedom, the government takes it away... That's why the government never recognizes what it can't control!