Bitcoin Stolen at Gunpoint in New York City Robbery!!

[Beliathon]

"A fool and his money will soon part."

[TheButterZone]

Economically and potentially physically suicidal to trade BTC in NYC, if you don't go through metal detectors with armed security at all access points (ie courthouses). Or just violate "gun control", because violent criminals give zero fucks and have all the guns they want at all times everywhere else.

[pooya87]

There's an option at person on person exchange;
Do the exchange at a police station. If the buyer/seller doesn't accept that term then he's probably a robber

why a police station?! :O
if you tell someone to meet you for trade at a police station he will run off thinking you are going to arrest him. lol

If it has value then some New Yorker is going to figure out how to steal it and sell it at a pawnshop. It's the state pastime like baseball is for the rest of the country. lol

The coindesk article doesn't say which area he was robbed in. ~~

probably in a dark alley :"
but the article mentioned that the robber lured him to a vehicle, and then forced him at gunpoint. maybe the meeting started in a public place and ended up in another place.

[Xiaoxiao]

That's why always sit in a very very public place like lunch time at a coffee shop.  Or even better preferably at a place where there are armed guards as well like airport, train station, downtown security office, municipal lobby, etc.

[amiryaqot]

that person create a new history so after this Robbery now he is the first person who get robbed, i think never heard that kind of story in the bitcoin's history anybody lost his coins on gunpoint so that is another interesting story added to there.

[bryant.coleman]

That's why always sit in a very very public place like lunch time at a coffee shop.  Or even better preferably at a place where there are armed guards as well like airport, train station, downtown security office, municipal lobby, etc.

Public places are not that safe either. I remember seeing a thread here almost two years ago (can't locate it right now), which dealt with a similar incident. A bitcoin seller transferred his coins to the potential buyer (the deal happened in a crowded library). But after the coins were transferred, the potential buyer, rather then paying the cash created a noisy scene and in the end, ran off with the coins. The seller was a handicapped man, and he couldn't chase the thief.

[Herbert2020]

that person create a new history so after this Robbery now he is the first person who get robbed, i think never heard that kind of story in the bitcoin's history anybody lost his coins on gunpoint so that is another interesting story added to there.

actually i don't think that he was the first one who got mugged.

he was the first one who got mugged and became known, maybe because he was from New York.

but i have heard that someone has got mugged before, there was a similar topic here long time ago about it.

[Possum577]

The guy that got robbed is an idiot.

1) Replace "bitcoin" with "gold" and then think through if it's a smart idea. You're going to meet a stranger to arrange to sell your "gold" - in NYC of all places - and expect the transaction to not be at risk of theft? Completely naive.

2) Bitcoin's infrastructure makes it possible to sell your bitcoin for cash without having to go on Craigslist to do it! If this guy spent a bit of time figuring out what steps in the transaction he needed to get cash in his hand he would have been able to avoid this risky (albeit convenient) transaction. Clearly the robbers know how to get the full value out of those bitcoin, I doubt they'll be posting another craigslist add to sell their stolen bitcoin.

Is it news if someone claimed "I was robbed, someone took my cash!"? No. Unless the volume is in the tens of Millions.

I think a better take on this is that if the NY Post is writing articles about bitcoin, bitcoin is becoming more mainstream. People in NY aren't going to be turned off of bitcoin due to the theft, they're going to be intrigued thinking "maybe this bitcoin is something I need to have!"

[Amph]

Economically and potentially physically suicidal to trade BTC in NYC, if you don't go through metal detectors with armed security at all access points (ie courthouses). Or just violate "gun control", because violent criminals give zero fucks and have all the guns they want at all times everywhere else.

they can force you even without any weapons, so it's a bit of pointless, usually if i see someone else with the one you are trading, i would raise, in no time, a red flag in to my head, especially if that person is unknown or slightly known

[Pursuer]

Economically and potentially physically suicidal to trade BTC in NYC, if you don't go through metal detectors with armed security at all access points (ie courthouses). Or just violate "gun control", because violent criminals give zero fucks and have all the guns they want at all times everywhere else.

wow you paint a horrifying image of NYC, I feel like I am watching Sopranos. and the guy was mugged by Christopher in broad daylight while cops were watching

[QuestionAuthority]

Economically and potentially physically suicidal to trade BTC in NYC, if you don't go through metal detectors with armed security at all access points (ie courthouses). Or just violate "gun control", because violent criminals give zero fucks and have all the guns they want at all times everywhere else.

wow you paint a horrifying image of NYC, I feel like I am watching Sopranos. and the guy was mugged by Christopher in broad daylight while cops were watching

Things like that do happen in RL. I went to the Pride Parade on Market Street one year (in SF) and watched a cop watching two guys pass a joint around 10 feet away from them. They never did anything and eventually walked away. I'm sure NYC cops see so much crime they get immune to it and ignore most of what they see.

[gloug333]

NYC doesn't consider selling bitcoins for cash money transmission like all the other USA states? Because then the victim could become the criminal...

[countryfree]

Well we want BTC to become mainstream, right? So, this was bound to happen. Actually, I wish it would have already happened, it just shows everybody that BTC is real. It has real value so it can be stolen like any valuable.

[TheButterZone]

Economically and potentially physically suicidal to trade BTC in NYC, if you don't go through metal detectors with armed security at all access points (ie courthouses). Or just violate "gun control", because violent criminals give zero fucks and have all the guns they want at all times everywhere else.

they can force you even without any weapons, so it's a bit of pointless, usually if i see someone else with the one you are trading, i would raise, in no time, a red flag in to my head, especially if that person is unknown or slightly known

Force you how? Blackmail? Unless they hand you a document and don't say a word, they're being recorded by your mobile device. Pop out a memory card or otherwise transfer it to law enforcement at the courthouse after the blackmailer's in cuffs.

Economically and potentially physically suicidal to trade BTC in NYC, if you don't go through metal detectors with armed security at all access points (ie courthouses). Or just violate "gun control", because violent criminals give zero fucks and have all the guns they want at all times everywhere else.

wow you paint a horrifying image of NYC, I feel like I am watching Sopranos. and the guy was mugged by Christopher in broad daylight while cops were watching

Things like that do happen in RL. I went to the Pride Parade on Market Street one year (in SF) and watched a cop watching two guys pass a joint around 10 feet away from them. They never did anything and eventually walked away. I'm sure NYC cops see so much crime they get immune to it and ignore most of what they see.

Good for those cops not arresting victimless criminals, assuming they were not forcing people to inhale secondhand smoke (one would think the winds would disperse it quickly if they were in open air). NYC cops in public are not who you want intervening, unless you want to be shot along with some innocent bystanders as they mag dump at your armed robber. At least at a courthouse, the timing will be such that you'll either be inside already, and they'll be firing in the opposite direction, or outside, and they will have already shot the armed robber for trying to pass through the detectors/x-ray before you arrived.

[bryant.coleman]

NYC doesn't consider selling bitcoins for cash money transmission like all the other USA states? Because then the victim could become the criminal...

It becomes a criminal offense only if the value of the transaction exceeds $10,000 (as per the anti-money laundering law, and the Statute 560.125). Then the person will be in trouble if he doesn't possess a money transmiting license. But in this case, Bitcoins worth some  $3,500 were stolen from the victim. So criminal charges doesn't apply, in my opinion.

[JLynn171]

NYC doesn't consider selling bitcoins for cash money transmission like all the other USA states? Because then the victim could become the criminal...

It becomes a criminal offense only if the value of the transaction exceeds $10,000 (as per the anti-money laundering law, and the Statute 560.125). Then the person will be in trouble if he doesn't possess a money transmiting license. But in this case, Bitcoins worth some  $3,500 were stolen from the victim. So criminal charges doesn't apply, in my opinion.

not sure about NYC but in texas we have a crime for committing theft under $50 (Yes a 0.05$ piece of gum could get your this charge) and felony charges start at thefts about $1,500 which means min 6months prison after $5000 would be minimum 2 years prison sentence

[RodeoX]

This only happens in "gun free zones" like NYC. In the rest of the U.S. a crook would be risking his life to try this.

[muhrohmat]

the fact of people using weapons in public its not safe i mean the secure state policie and al its nessecary but for regular peopleno soo you shoud invetigate if that person hass wepons possession in law if soo be even more carfull people with gun licences and nervouse are quite terroristical never aprroax to much even being your infancy friends all people commits errors and pays  for it and megligence of safty its a error too.

[QuestionAuthority]

the fact of people using weapons in public its not safe i mean the secure state policie and al its nessecary but for regular peopleno soo you shoud invetigate if that person hass wepons possession in law if soo be even more carfull people with gun licences and nervouse are quite terroristical never aprroax to much even being your infancy friends all people commits errors and pays  for it and megligence of safty its a error too.

Well I know I don't want you to carry a gun. At least not until you sober up.

[MF Doom]

This only happens in "gun free zones" like NYC. In the rest of the U.S. a crook would be risking his life to try this.

Too true.  But your logic is too overwhelming for most to comprehend.