mkbit88 (OP)
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September 20, 2013, 10:28:28 PM |
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Would ownership of a large stake of BTC (obviously not that much since total market cap is only around 1.5 bil, but I could see say some drug bust that might have a few million is BTC seized) by a government agency force any kind of regularization of BTC in a governments eyes?
This thought originally popped up when thinking about Mt Gox's massive stash of BTC and what would happen if it was seized by regulatory agencies. I don't think this is going to happen, but I definitely entered hypothetical land and was wondering what ya'll thought about it.
And before the troll posts about how they can just send all the BTC away or refuse to give up the coin, not everyone's wealth is solely stored in BTC and not everyone is willing to live life on the run from the law.
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Lethn
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September 20, 2013, 10:58:49 PM |
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I don't know about the Bitcoins but I've certainly heard regularly about exchanges in particular having their funds seized or their bank accounts frozen, Bitcoin is an interesting predicament at the moment. On the one hand, governments know it's valuable and if they started taking it for themselves they could make shit tons of money, on the other hand this would mean they would end up unofficially acknowledging its value as a currency ( Even if they didn't say anything, they would have considered it valuable enough to steal ) so all we can do is just wait and see what happens. If they do end up taking Bitcoin they'll most likely risk angering their central bank masters and putting their paper money at risk so it will be awhile yet before we see anything at least openly happen.
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will1982
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September 20, 2013, 11:10:46 PM |
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I think Mt. Gox have been the only victims so far
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nobbynobbynoob
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September 20, 2013, 11:15:42 PM |
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The only seizure of bitcoin I've heard about was to do with a dealer/user connected to SR (in one of the Carolinas?). It could have been a case of the authorities seizing computer equipment that coïncidentally contained a bitcoin wallet, rather than the police specifically seeking out "illicit bitcoin" as money.
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franky1
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September 21, 2013, 01:41:42 AM |
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mtgox had its FIAT seized.
as for bitcoin only 11BTC was seized due to some stings involving Silk road, but during those stings MILLIONS of dollars and gold were seized. so it just goes to show even in the silk road land... FIAT is the most drug tainted currency of all.
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I DO NOT TRADE OR ACT AS ESCROW ON THIS FORUM EVER.
Please do your own research & respect what is written here as both opinion & information gleaned from experience. many people replying with insults but no on-topic content substance, automatically are 'facepalmed' and yawned at
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DobZombie
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September 21, 2013, 01:48:33 AM |
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What about freedom host getting busted for pedoporn. I think they went down because of their bitcoins being traced.
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Tip Me if believe BTC1 will hit $1 Million by 2030
1DobZomBiE2gngvy6zDFKY5b76yvDbqRra
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franky1
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September 21, 2013, 02:27:48 AM |
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What about freedom host getting busted for pedoporn. I think they went down because of their bitcoins being traced.
nope there was a javascript exploit they used with tor to get the true IP of freedom hosting.. so it was TOR related not bitcoin.... well thats what a quick google search on it just revealed to me atleast. |
I DO NOT TRADE OR ACT AS ESCROW ON THIS FORUM EVER.
Please do your own research & respect what is written here as both opinion & information gleaned from experience. many people replying with insults but no on-topic content substance, automatically are 'facepalmed' and yawned at
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marcotheminer
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┴puoʎǝq ʞool┴
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September 21, 2013, 04:03:37 AM |
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Most probably, if thats a word combination lol
Mt gox has had fiat money seized over bitcoin problems!
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b!z
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September 21, 2013, 06:03:51 AM |
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I think there was a SR bust where they confiscated bitcoins, google it
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blisscan
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September 21, 2013, 06:25:31 AM |
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Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...
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Kluge
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September 21, 2013, 06:28:49 AM |
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Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...
Ouch. It sure would be nice to see some lawsuits demanding FMV back on those coins. I'd imagine they had them in the tens or hundreds as pocket change in those days. |
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mkbit88 (OP)
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September 21, 2013, 09:53:13 AM |
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Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...
You sure they were destroyed? I would suggest to anyone in NYC to keep an eye out for laptops on police auction  So it seems there have been no significant seizures. I wonder if a gov like germany, whom has declared bitcoin a legal currency, seized some bitcoins, could they legally destroy the BTC? (As in, its illegal to destroy cash money in the USA). |
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jubalix
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September 21, 2013, 10:23:46 AM |
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Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...
You sure they were destroyed? I would suggest to anyone in NYC to keep an eye out for laptops on police auction So it seems there have been no significant seizures. I wonder if a gov like germany, whom has declared bitcoin a legal currency, seized some bitcoins, could they legally destroy the BTC? (As in, its illegal to destroy cash money in the USA). you can't really destroy btc, (without deleting every single copy of the blockchain), only stop btc being moved, |
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nomailing
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September 21, 2013, 10:36:44 AM |
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So it seems there have been no significant seizures. I wonder if a gov like germany, whom has declared bitcoin a legal currency, seized some bitcoins, could they legally destroy the BTC? (As in, its illegal to destroy cash money in the USA).
There was a significant seizure in Germany at the owner of bitcoin24 just 4 months ago. Although the police suspected fraud, they have just seized Euros and have frozen the bank accounts. They didn't seize the bitcoins although they could have done it and it would have made sense. Many people were wondering why not. Maybe the police was just not smart enough... |
BM-2D9KqQQ9Fg864YKia8Yz2VTtcUPYFnHVBR
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DobZombie
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September 21, 2013, 10:46:24 AM |
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What about pirateat40? Didn't Trendon Shavers' computers get seized?
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Tip Me if believe BTC1 will hit $1 Million by 2030
1DobZomBiE2gngvy6zDFKY5b76yvDbqRra
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LiteCoinGuy
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In Satoshi I Trust
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September 21, 2013, 07:43:13 PM |
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What about pirateat40? Didn't Trendon Shavers' computers get seized?
yes, as far as i can remember, thats fact. |
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Jace
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September 21, 2013, 09:59:15 PM |
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What do you mean, "seizures of BTC".
Bitcoins can be encrypted and backed up, you know. Even with plausible deniability. Seizing computer ≠ seizing bitcoins. The government can't just go around and start seizing bitcoins, even if they wanted to.
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Feel free to send your life savings to 1JhrfA12dBMUhcgh85wYan6HL2uLQdB6z9
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DobZombie
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September 21, 2013, 11:00:35 PM |
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In case you hadn't heard, the US seems to think it can bloody well do what it wants
O.o
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Tip Me if believe BTC1 will hit $1 Million by 2030
1DobZomBiE2gngvy6zDFKY5b76yvDbqRra
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RichG
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September 22, 2013, 06:15:12 AM |
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KnightMB's private keys were seized. 374000BTC were in those keys.
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blisscan
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September 22, 2013, 10:09:17 AM |
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Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...
You sure they were destroyed? I would suggest to anyone in NYC to keep an eye out for laptops on police auction There are images of the destroyed laptops between minutes 25 and 27 of this video: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/motherboard-tv-free-the-networkApparently some people didn't have a backup of their wallets. |
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