U.S. announces forfeiture of $28 million of bitcoins belonging to Silk Road

[Bitcoinpro]

I'd say DPR has heard about Dogecoin now and has struck a deal with the justice department to unload the whole lot and buy Dogecoin with it,

so much for the FBI and their Silkroad honey pot, they should have left it running to get all the Doge too  

[ak84]

Can anyone clarify for me:

How does the FBI have access to the bitcoins? They have unencrypted wallet.dat file or they  know the password?

I read all the time about how bitcoins can't be seized... so what happened in the case of DPR's bitcoins?

[EvilPanda]

Can anyone clarify for me:

How does the FBI have access to the bitcoins? They have unencrypted wallet.dat file or they  know the password?

I read all the time about how bitcoins can't be seized... so what happened in the case of DPR's bitcoins?

He probably gave it to them for reduced charges. And what will they do with it? Simple - auction it or sell to some rich investor, which means they will not sell it on an exchange. And NO it will not cause a crash because someone investing milions in BTC doesn't do it just to dump all immediately.

[Kungfucheez]

No offense, but

Didn't we hear about this happening last year?

[crazy_rabbit]

Can anyone clarify for me:

How does the FBI have access to the bitcoins? They have unencrypted wallet.dat file or they  know the password?

I read all the time about how bitcoins can't be seized... so what happened in the case of DPR's bitcoins?

He probably gave it to them for reduced charges. And what will they do with it? Simple - auction it or sell to some rich investor, which means they will not sell it on an exchange. And NO it will not cause a crash because someone investing milions in BTC doesn't do it just to dump all immediately.

I doubt that. My bet is that the government is going to KEEP those bitcoins for the future. They know they are potentially too valuable to sell. They could be worth billions one day and I think they know it's possible. The government won't be selling these coins, I think they are going to keep them forever. Think of it- there's virtually no other way to get this many bitcoins anymore. The USA is now one of the top bitcoin holders! Welcome to our new partner. :-)

[ArticMine]

Can anyone clarify for me:

How does the FBI have access to the bitcoins? They have unencrypted wallet.dat file or they  know the password?

I read all the time about how bitcoins can't be seized... so what happened in the case of DPR's bitcoins?

He probably gave it to them for reduced charges. And what will they do with it? Simple - auction it or sell to some rich investor, which means they will not sell it on an exchange. And NO it will not cause a crash because someone investing milions in BTC doesn't do it just to dump all immediately.

I doubt that. My bet is that the government is going to KEEP those bitcoins for the future. They know they are potentially too valuable to sell. They could be worth billions one day and I think they know it's possible. The government won't be selling these coins, I think they are going to keep them forever. Think of it- there's virtually no other way to get this many bitcoins anymore. The USA is now one of the top bitcoin holders! Welcome to our new partner. :-)

So they will store the private key(s) in Fort Knox?

[williamj2543]

I cant even believe this bullshit. Yes I know this news is old, but this is ridiculous. The coins should be paid either to charity, or back to the Silk Road customers. Those bitcoins probably came out of their work paycheck. Who cares what they are going to spend it on, it's still money. Pretty much the government is stealing innocent people's bitcoins and not giving it back. How would you like the feds randomly coming into your house, stealing all your money from your wallet, and just leaving. I can't believe the stupidity of this world we live in.

[benjamindees]

How would you like the feds randomly coming into your house, stealing all your money from your wallet, and just leaving.

Cash "facilitates money laundering".

[ProfMac]

There might be a marketplace to sell only marijuana and only in the states where it is legal.

[dopey]

Free coins to everyone on bitcointalk.org?

Every single one should be donated to charities. Not only would that get mass adoption by charities of bitcoin but it wuld help millions of people even if in just a small way.

 

My only argument would be to invest the money into creating infrasturcture for underdeveloped causes vs simply giving to charity.

Teach a man to fish.......

[tozak]

Can anyone clarify for me:

How does the FBI have access to the bitcoins? They have unencrypted wallet.dat file or they  know the password?

I read all the time about how bitcoins can't be seized... so what happened in the case of DPR's bitcoins?

He probably gave it to them for reduced charges. And what will they do with it? Simple - auction it or sell to some rich investor, which means they will not sell it on an exchange. And NO it will not cause a crash because someone investing milions in BTC doesn't do it just to dump all immediately.

I doubt that. My bet is that the government is going to KEEP those bitcoins for the future. They know they are potentially too valuable to sell. They could be worth billions one day and I think they know it's possible. The government won't be selling these coins, I think they are going to keep them forever. Think of it- there's virtually no other way to get this many bitcoins anymore. The USA is now one of the top bitcoin holders! Welcome to our new partner. :-)

They will sell them but they will sell them to themselves, i.e. one government department with no interest in Bitcoin will sell it to another government department that would otherwise be buying Bitcoin on the open market for one of their projects / operations.

[TDB]

Can anyone clarify for me:

How does the FBI have access to the bitcoins? They have unencrypted wallet.dat file or they  know the password?

I read all the time about how bitcoins can't be seized... so what happened in the case of DPR's bitcoins?

He probably gave it to them for reduced charges. And what will they do with it? Simple - auction it or sell to some rich investor, which means they will not sell it on an exchange. And NO it will not cause a crash because someone investing milions in BTC doesn't do it just to dump all immediately.

I doubt that. My bet is that the government is going to KEEP those bitcoins for the future. They know they are potentially too valuable to sell. They could be worth billions one day and I think they know it's possible. The government won't be selling these coins, I think they are going to keep them forever. Think of it- there's virtually no other way to get this many bitcoins anymore. The USA is now one of the top bitcoin holders! Welcome to our new partner. :-)

So they will store the private key(s) in Fort Knox?

A judge ordered them to be sold.

[Bobsurplus]

Free coins to everyone on bitcointalk.org?

Every single one should be donated to charities. Not only would that get mass adoption by charities of bitcoin but it wuld help millions of people even if in just a small way.

 

My only argument would be to invest the money into creating infrasturcture for underdeveloped causes vs simply giving to charity.

Teach a man to fish.......

Good point!

[guybrushthreepwood]

Yes I know this news is old, but this is ridiculous. The coins should be paid either to charity, or back to the Silk Road customers. T

Lol, like the USG are gonna give drug money back to the people it belonged to. That's not how they work.

[TheButterZone]

Yes I know this news is old, but this is ridiculous. The coins should be paid either to charity, or back to the Silk Road customers. T

Lol, like the USG are gonna give drug money back to the people it belonged to. That's not how they work.

They don't discriminate. Victimful crime money, victimless crime money, not a crime at all money, they take it all by force, and it's never, EVER, enough.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/01/16/the-feds-are-ready-to-sell-the-silk-road-bitcoin-kind-of/
“Any Silk Road users who had legitimate holdings on the site are out of luck.”

No wonder why anarchy is preferable to the chaos all governments administer, waving their magic wand and labeling 100% non-criminal transactions/funds thereof, “money laundering”.

How many innocents did the government rob blind this time?

[techstorm2]

Are they going to use locabitcoins to sell for cash$ on street corners?

 

[ProfMac]

Yes I know this news is old, but this is ridiculous. The coins should be paid either to charity, or back to the Silk Road customers. T

Lol, like the USG are gonna give drug money back to the people it belonged to. That's not how they work.

They don't discriminate. Victimful crime money, victimless crime money, not a crime at all money, they take it all by force, and it's never, EVER, enough.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/01/16/the-feds-are-ready-to-sell-the-silk-road-bitcoin-kind-of/
“Any Silk Road users who had legitimate holdings on the site are out of luck.”

No wonder why anarchy is preferable to the chaos all governments administer, waving their magic wand and labeling 100% non-criminal transactions/funds thereof, “money laundering”.

How many innocents did the government rob blind this time?

What activities on Silk Road are not breaking some US law?

[bitpop]

This is very good news. The government selling them legitimizes them and they can no longer make them illegal. Oh hey, thanks for the money, now what you just bought is illegal.

[bitpop]

Yes I know this news is old, but this is ridiculous. The coins should be paid either to charity, or back to the Silk Road customers. T

Lol, like the USG are gonna give drug money back to the people it belonged to. That's not how they work.

They don't discriminate. Victimful crime money, victimless crime money, not a crime at all money, they take it all by force, and it's never, EVER, enough.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/01/16/the-feds-are-ready-to-sell-the-silk-road-bitcoin-kind-of/
“Any Silk Road users who had legitimate holdings on the site are out of luck.”

No wonder why anarchy is preferable to the chaos all governments administer, waving their magic wand and labeling 100% non-criminal transactions/funds thereof, “money laundering”.

How many innocents did the government rob blind this time?

What activities on Silk Road are not breaking some US law?

They sold legitimate virtual machines on usb.

[guybrushthreepwood]

Yes I know this news is old, but this is ridiculous. The coins should be paid either to charity, or back to the Silk Road customers. T

Lol, like the USG are gonna give drug money back to the people it belonged to. That's not how they work.

They don't discriminate. Victimful crime money, victimless crime money, not a crime at all money, they take it all by force, and it's never, EVER, enough.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/01/16/the-feds-are-ready-to-sell-the-silk-road-bitcoin-kind-of/
“Any Silk Road users who had legitimate holdings on the site are out of luck.”

No wonder why anarchy is preferable to the chaos all governments administer, waving their magic wand and labeling 100% non-criminal transactions/funds thereof, “money laundering”.

How many innocents did the government rob blind this time?

What activities on Silk Road are not breaking some US law?

Maybe the people who were selling alpaca socks? There are always a few supplies selling legitimate items on these marketplaces, but of course the USG don't care about that.