Is stealing Bitcoin illegal?

[TastyChillySauce00]

it's illegal from morality and religion's rules but i guess if it's about the government rules,maybe it's legal as you don't really steal it and the ones who makes this mistake is the sender,and there's no rules about this released by government,so it depend on which rules you follow

[raphma]

the chances of happening that are so low that if it happens you should keep it  you deserved.

[Indrawan77]

I think if that case happen then its your luck, because even though you want to return it you dont have any information, unless somebody can prove its his address then you can return it, but its all up to you

[tobacco123]

I think any form of stealing is wrong, but whether it is illegal is really up to the law. Taking bitcoin from an address that you know the private key is not illegal. However, if it is known to belong to someone, it is better that you try to contact him/her and not just take it.

[clickerz]

From the statement that "stealing" of course its illegal But, when the generated address is the same address someone already owned? I think the probability is zero?  I dont know either but if it will happen, its not your fault.

[BayAreaCoins]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

If you have the keys... you own the Bitcoins.

[panju1]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

Somebody buries his gold in the forest. You go to the forest at a different time, dig a hole and find the gold. Is it illegal for you to take it? I guess not. This example is similar.

[krishna1]

Yes bro stealing someone's Bitcoins is still illegal because for stealing someone Bitcoins you need to hack the wallet of the guy and everyone knows hacking is illegal in every country if you use hacking for stealing a user info. Without his permission.....

[Omegasun]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

Lol. It is impossible to happen to got some address with a coin loaded itself. First of all the new generated wallet is not from other people used wallet. If thats happen by chance. It is not stealing. Its just like founding a treasure.

[pabpete]

Simple answer yes.

[Leonard2016]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

some may think of it as stealing bitcoin but what you describe is not stealing it is super duper uber luck. and that is something that will never happen in a million years. but if you could create an address with balance then by all means take it and think of yourself as the luckiest person who has ever lived and will ever live in the whole universe because the chance is so small.

[maydna]

i think kids will know what is the answer. when we take others without permission, then its steal and steal is illegal act, and its wrong.

[Omegasun]

OP. your thread title is very misleading based on what you stated below. Many members here got misleading answer too. Hahahha. I think you should changed that on more approriate title. Just my suggestion. Thanks

[Strongkored]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

Wherever called stealing is illegal and is not allowed by the religion and the law, but I think if you got a bitcoin from accidental generated new bitcoin address and contained bitcoin there in that I think would not be possible, and I would not call it stealing. because we never intentionally to make bitcoin address contained therein bitcoin, and bitcoin is not necessarily that anyone has

[JeffBrad12]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

according to the rules of the government and religions, stealing is included into the despicable act and maybe illegals too, but all of that's relies on with your minds because maybe don't think that's act is included into despicable things or illegal.

[Sniper44]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

bitcoin is just like money so stealing it is wrong an also illegal.

but what you have said in your comment here is not stealing bitcoin it is a miracle because the chance of that happening is even lower than the chance of you getting hit by a meteor.

[shinratensei_]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

you do not need to think about it's illegal or not, from your sentence. it's showed impossibility... and from where you know if that's amount are belonging to somebody else?

[BossMacko]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

First of all if that will happen to you then that is called luck. It is not stealing because you did not do anything wrong . You are just lucky that you among all people got a lucky address that has Bitcoin in it. Again that is not stealing its a luck

[Nahl]

Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.

it all depend in Which country do you come from because in my country my government not admit bitcoin as the currency and if someone else losing their bitcoin they could not bringing lawsuits the thief
 

[Anon_7716]

It may be legal. because every addres we can get is the new addres or waste discarded by their owners. So it so belongs to you and you can use an existing in the btc addres. This may only be obtained by a small percentage of people