would you accept stolen bitcoins?

[fitbobcat]

There is no way to tell if there stolen. Think of this, A person robs a bank... He then goes to a store and buys a computer. The next customer got change (part of the stolen money). The customer was legit and knew nothing about it. So should they not accept the customers bitcoins.

[2bfree]

You you accept stollen dollars?

[Nikinger]

Bitcoin is Bitcoin.
If I knew that the Bitcoins I received were stolen, I would simply put the Bitcoins in a mixer to (hopefully) recover the full fungibility.

[msc]

There is no way to tell if there stolen. Think of this, A person robs a bank... He then goes to a store and buys a computer. The next customer got change (part of the stolen money). The customer was legit and knew nothing about it. So should they not accept the customers bitcoins.

Right - the computer sale is legitimate, regardless of where the money came from. 

Would you accept a wad of cash from someone, knowing that it was stolen from someone's sideboard and may be their life savings?

If you know they're stolen, that's different.  I wouldn't buy Bitcoins that were advertised as stolen.  But if someone pays me fiat in a legitimate transaction, and the serial numbers are tracked later and shown to be stolen, that's not my fault.

[teukon]

Yes, I'd make sure my client was configured to ignore and and all blacklists.

If I personally suspect that the coins are the proceeds of crime then I would only willingly accept them if the amount was sufficient to compensate my risk.

[ChronosTrigger]

I dont think there's such a thing as "stolen" BTC

[LostDutchman]

If a wallet asks you when you install it, "would you accept stolen bitcoins?" what will be your response?

If someone create a web to inform against stolen bitcoins gaving proofs and it gave you a wallet for money back marked and acepted stolen btc´s

I think Is time to make something with thieves.

OK, we I will now make something with thieves!

ANNOUNCING!

(Drumroll!)

The Lost Dutchman Bitcoin Rating System!

(Rimshot!)

Class One Bitcoins:

Nice clean all dressed up in Easter finery Bitcoins!

These Bitcoins get to sit and stay!

Class Two Bitcoins:

Maybe requiring re-training; "Sit", "All the way down!", "Kisses!", "Speak!" and "Shake!"

After proper REHABILITATION ( A la Cesar Milan!) these Bitcoins may be again used by normal users.

Class Three Bitcoins:

Not good, used in crimes, may carry cooties.

BAD DOG!
NO BISCUIT!

My $.02.

[TheButterZone]

My response would be to exit the installer and securely delete it from my drive, before stolen BTC are immediately sent to addresses generated by the application in order to have me immediately prosecuted for receiving proceeds of crime.

[theonewhowaskazu]

The only truly "stolen" coins are those that are hacked or physically extorted from the owner.

90% of what people consider 'stolen' coins either fall under the category of 'defaults', which while in some cases the debts may have been taken on in a malicious manner, is almost entirely impossible to distinguish from legitimate bankruptcies, which isn't truly theft, so I think it's best to treat all defaults as something separate from true theft.

[LostDutchman]

The only truly "stolen" coins are those that are hacked or physically extorted from the owner.

90% of what people consider 'stolen' coins either fall under the category of 'defaults', which while in some cases the debts may have been taken on in a malicious manner, is almost entirely impossible to distinguish from legitimate bankruptcies, which isn't truly theft, so I think it's best to treat all defaults as something separate from true theft.

So tell us all just how that can be done without negatively affecting the rights of all!

SPEAK!

The Dutchman is turned to hear!

My $.02.

[theonewhowaskazu]

The only truly "stolen" coins are those that are hacked or physically extorted from the owner.

90% of what people consider 'stolen' coins either fall under the category of 'defaults', which while in some cases the debts may have been taken on in a malicious manner, is almost entirely impossible to distinguish from legitimate bankruptcies, which isn't truly theft, so I think it's best to treat all defaults as something separate from true theft.

So tell us all just how that can be done without negatively affecting the rights of all!

SPEAK!

The Dutchman is turned to hear!

My $.02.

I never said it could be done. I just am stating that there is a big difference between hacked / extorted coins and coins that one person vaguely states were 'stolen' from them by a gambling site, investment site, etc...

[LostDutchman]

The only truly "stolen" coins are those that are hacked or physically extorted from the owner.

90% of what people consider 'stolen' coins either fall under the category of 'defaults', which while in some cases the debts may have been taken on in a malicious manner, is almost entirely impossible to distinguish from legitimate bankruptcies, which isn't truly theft, so I think it's best to treat all defaults as something separate from true theft.

So tell us all just how that can be done without negatively affecting the rights of all!

SPEAK!

The Dutchman is turned to hear!

My $.02.

I never said it could be done. I just am stating that there is a big difference between hacked / extorted coins and coins that one person vaguely states were 'stolen' from them by a gambling site, investment site, etc...

OK.

How do you tell the difference?

[chaolang]

Theres no Stolen Bitcoin around ...

[AltorXP]

The only truly "stolen" coins are those that are hacked or physically extorted from the owner.

90% of what people consider 'stolen' coins either fall under the category of 'defaults', which while in some cases the debts may have been taken on in a malicious manner, is almost entirely impossible to distinguish from legitimate bankruptcies, which isn't truly theft, so I think it's best to treat all defaults as something separate from true theft.

So tell us all just how that can be done without negatively affecting the rights of all!

SPEAK!

The Dutchman is turned to hear!

My $.02.

I never said it could be done. I just am stating that there is a big difference between hacked / extorted coins and coins that one person vaguely states were 'stolen' from them by a gambling site, investment site, etc...

OK.

How do you tell the difference?

You cant.
Thats one of the major advantages, and one of the major disadvantages of bitcoin; the owner is anonymous

[alkaz]

No I wouldn't accept them.  I check the serial number of every dollar bill in my wallet against the national database of stolen money  (Library of Laundering).  The LOL also tracks terrorist funds digitally and I refuse to take that.  Unfortunately it means I send most of my paycheck back and I'm totally broke.

LOL 

[medUSA]

For those who have been scammed or have bitcoins stolen from them before, I believe they would like the tainted bitcoins not to be accepted by any other wallet/people unless they are returned to the original owner and becomes clean again.

I think this is an excellent idea. But there are so many problems associated with this blacklist...

Who will be the judge of scams and stolen coins?
Who maintains this blacklist?
How about the transactions after the steal and before the crime is reported?
Do the innocent people who received the tainted bitcoins loose their coins?
Will all their coins be frozen?

If there is a way to resolve these perfectly, I am all for it. If not, I rather not have any blacklist system.

[cp1]

How about this:  if your coins are stolen, to prove that you're the true owner, just sign a message using the private key of that address saying you were robbed.  simple!

[msc]

How about this:  if your coins are stolen, to prove that you're the true owner, just sign a message using the private key of that address saying you were robbed.  simple!

No.  You can lie about the coins having been stolen, and if you've stolen the private key, you can claim to be the owner.

[cp1]

No.  You can lie about the coins having been stolen, and if you've stolen the private key, you can claim to be the owner.

Yes, that's my point.

[BTCisthefuture]

That's a good moral question but also one that can be hard to really answer.

There is so much money in the world that at one point was used in a crime (theft in this case).  The blockchain creates an interesting situation where you could know if bitcoins were stolen at one point in time, something you can't really do whenever you get cash.

As others said simply receiving stolen bitcoins from someone doesn't mean that person was ever involved and the bitcoins could have passed through dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of hands before ever reaching you.

My answer is this... if it's not illegal to do so. Then yes I would.  While I feel bad for anyone who has fallen victim to theft it's also true that I shouldn't be punished as well or lose out on payment as a result. 

Example:.... someone gets their coins stolen,  said theif buys something on overstock, overstock gives coins to coinbase, coinbase puts coins back on market, coins pass through various peopels hands over time,  coins eventually come to my wallet in form of payment for services I offered...... in this situation yes I would take the coins even if its morally wrong, just like overstock/coinbase/and others took the coins. The only thing that would stop me is if it was illegal to do so, but if it was then overstock/coinbase/and others could/would also get in trouble.

If it wa something more direct like someone steals coins and then said theif tries to give me those coins with no other transactions taking place in the middle then I might do the morally correct thing and return the stolen coins if it wasn't money I really needed at the time.