Guy admits it is his job to destroy Bitcoin.

[Mageant]

Since it was taken down I would like to add some of the missing information from memory that the guy posted:

Where did you hear about Bitcoin first?
Answer: Other -> Work

When did you hear about Bitcoin first?
Answer: Q2 2011

Age: 42
Gender: Male
Country: United States

Final comment:
Media corporations have a civic responsibility not only to prevent fraud and financial abuse, but also to not corrupt or degrade our culture.

[1713899693]

1713899693

[1713899693]

1713899693

[MatthewLM]

As if the information matters. They were just lonely people, spamming a survey for no good reason.

[ALPHA.]

They were just lonely people, spamming a survey for no good reason.

SomethingAwful.

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

On a recent survey about Bitcoin I found a person who admitted that it's his job to destroy Bitcoin within a team of people, probably to protect the current financial system:

"It's my job to assist in the destruction of the Bitcoin network. Currently we are researching various methods that will be used to attack the network in the near future. Previous attacks have resulted in price drops, but we will not be content until Bitcoin has been driven completely underground to a very small amount of fanatics with no chance of taking off into the main stream financial world."

"I want the network destroyed. It's not personal, this is just a requirement of the project for which I have been assigned to."

What would you like to see in the future of bitcoin in general?
Answer: "More bank account closures on the exchanges"

I would not be surprised at all if that was the truth, since CIA openly admitted their interest in Bitcoin, which means one of tho things: they either want to use it for their dirty buisnesses, or they want to destroy it.

However I need some proof to verify this as "legit" than text from some forum user who could be God knows who...
@Mageant: How do we know you are not working for CIA conducting a psychology study to find out how will we behave if you tell us this ?
You never know...

However, this would actually also prove that they themselves are looking for ways to manipulate this community into doing what they want... Tricky thing this conspiracies are, indeed.

[ALPHA.]

The CIA is just a bunch of inefficient bureaucrats. If they are trying to end Bitcoin, it's going to be as hilarious and inane as what they did in Cuba. They are just a bunch of pretentious old men flailing in tax money.

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

The CIA is just a bunch of inefficient bureaucrats. If they are trying to end Bitcoin, it's going to be as hilarious and inane as what they did in Cuba. They are just a bunch of pretentious old men flailing in tax money.

Perhaps, but they still can put a bullet in your head and get away with it.
Also they potentially posess large amounts of money which allows them to manipulate everything.

[ALPHA.]

The CIA is just a bunch of inefficient bureaucrats. If they are trying to end Bitcoin, it's going to be as hilarious and inane as what they did in Cuba. They are just a bunch of pretentious old men flailing in tax money.

Perhaps, but they still can put a bullet in your head and get away with it.
Also they potentially posess large amounts of money which allow them to manipulate everything.

Yes, the government does effective things with large amounts of money.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-17/solyndra-funds-mostly-lost-to-taxpayers-chu-tells-lawmakers.html

They can attempt to do something but it's just going to be inanely hilarious as history as shown. The CIA is a pitiful joke. They couldn't kill Castro much less a virtual currency.

[RodeoX]

Few people I meet know anything about the CIA. Case in point, this thread.

[Shuai]

I've met and know quite a few truly inspiring and incredibly intelligent people in the Bitcoin community. I'm absolutely mindblown by the resourcefulness and ingenuity of Satoshi and the Bitcoin design. But I swear to the scientific method, 90% of you are so gullible, paranoid, and are so profoundly disconnected from reality that I don't think I will ever be able to put words on it. Holy father of quantum mechanics...

How can you for even a second fall for this kind of shit?

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

The CIA is just a bunch of inefficient bureaucrats. If they are trying to end Bitcoin, it's going to be as hilarious and inane as what they did in Cuba. They are just a bunch of pretentious old men flailing in tax money.

Perhaps, but they still can put a bullet in your head and get away with it.
Also they potentially posess large amounts of money which allow them to manipulate everything.

Yes, the government does effective things with large amounts of money.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-17/solyndra-funds-mostly-lost-to-taxpayers-chu-tells-lawmakers.html

They can attempt to do something but it's just going to be inanely hilarious as history as shown. The CIA is a pitiful joke. They couldn't kill Castro much less a virtual currency.

Maybe they want you to think that they are incompetent.
Also, there may be other government agencies, which are more effective.

The point is, if the CIA is aware of Bitcoin, all the other "shady" government agencies surely are.

How can you for even a second fall for this kind of shit?

From my point of view, there is at least 96% probability that this is an obvious hoax.
However, you always have to consider all the possibilities. Even the least probable.

[ALPHA.]

The CIA is just a bunch of inefficient bureaucrats. If they are trying to end Bitcoin, it's going to be as hilarious and inane as what they did in Cuba. They are just a bunch of pretentious old men flailing in tax money.

Perhaps, but they still can put a bullet in your head and get away with it.
Also they potentially posess large amounts of money which allow them to manipulate everything.

Yes, the government does effective things with large amounts of money.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-17/solyndra-funds-mostly-lost-to-taxpayers-chu-tells-lawmakers.html

They can attempt to do something but it's just going to be inanely hilarious as history as shown. The CIA is a pitiful joke. They couldn't kill Castro much less a virtual currency.

Maybe they want you to think that they are incompetent.
Also, there may be other government agencies, which are more effective.

The point is, if the CIA is aware of Bitcoin, all the other "shady" government agencies surely are.

The thing is they have little incentive to care. The government is failing to even keep its basic power structure intact and the populace happy. I doubt they can even comprehend Bitcoin as a threat beyond a blow to taxation which they can't even spend effectively.

Government organizations fail in this regard. They are literally vegetables on life support in comparison to a real business. If anybody cares about Bitcoin right now, it's the central banks. That's where the real power and incentive is.

[P4man]

I've met and know quite a few truly inspiring and incredibly intelligent people in the Bitcoin community. I'm absolutely mindblown by the resourcefulness and ingenuity of Satoshi and the Bitcoin design. But I swear to the scientific method, 90% of you are so gullible, paranoid, and are so profoundly disconnected from reality that I don't think I will ever be able to put words on it. Holy father of quantum mechanics...

How can you for even a second fall for this kind of shit?

Couldnt have said it any better.

[MatthewLM]

I've met and know quite a few truly inspiring and incredibly intelligent people in the Bitcoin community. I'm absolutely mindblown by the resourcefulness and ingenuity of Satoshi and the Bitcoin design. But I swear to the scientific method, 90% of you are so gullible, paranoid, and are so profoundly disconnected from reality that I don't think I will ever be able to put words on it. Holy father of quantum mechanics...

How can you for even a second fall for this kind of shit?

You aren't the spammer are you?

[herzmeister]

How can you for even a second fall for this kind of shit?

sry 

[teukon]

If only this were true.  I'd rest easier knowing there are people out there actually employed to attack the Bitcoin network.

Much more likely though, this is just a rumour designed to bolster people's confidence in Bitcoin and possibly even make people think that the current market value is artificially low.

If there is an attack, where's the big child pornography story?  If I were paying someone to attack the Bitcoin network and they didn't work hard to create such a story I'd fire them.  It's such a cheap and effective attack!

Of course, perhaps the whole purpose of this thread is to get thoughts from the community on attack vectors (are people this clever?).  Honestly though, I welcome the gathering of this information.  I'd happily contribute to an open wiki on how to attack the Bitcoin network as I believe this information would be a greater boon to defence than to attack.

[ThomasV]

just to illustrate how ridiculous these claims are, I created this little parody:

"It's my job to assist in the destruction of the Linux operating system. Currently we are researching various methods that will be used to attack free software in the near future. Previous attacks have resulted in usage drops, but we will not be content until Linux has been driven completely underground to a very small amount of fanatics with no chance of taking off into the main stream software world."

"I want Linux to be destroyed. It's not personal, this is just a requirement of the company I work for."

[ptshamrock]

While I individually still believe Bitcoin is yet too small to be taken seriously by the establishment, I do suspect that in the future the stronger Bitcoin becomes, the more will they attempt to discredit and fight it, with all means necessary.

Let's not forget that today's power structures depend on the financial system the way it is today, and that wars have been waged to gain control over a nation's money in order to secure or expand the status quo.

+1

[JeffK]

They were just lonely people, spamming a survey for no good reason.

SomethingAwful.

lol welp

[phillipsjk]

just to illustrate how ridiculous these claims are, I created this little parody:

"It's my job to assist in the destruction of the Linux operating system. Currently we are researching various methods that will be used to attack free software in the near future. Previous attacks have resulted in usage drops, but we will not be content until Linux has been driven completely underground to a very small amount of fanatics with no chance of taking off into the main stream software world."

"I want Linux to be destroyed. It's not personal, this is just a requirement of the company I work for."

The problem with your parody is that there is evidence supporting it. Microsoft extended support for Windows XP after netbooks threatened to prove that GNU/Linux is more versatile, yet still usable by the average person. As a result of Microsoft pressure, netbooks moved from Solid-State disks to spinning disks in  order to have enough space to install Windows XP. This results in a slower, more power hungry computer that is simply less functional, other than in storage capablility.

Microsoft also charges manufacturers approximately the same license fees for both Windows Mobile and Android handsets. At the same time, Microsoft limits what features the Android phones are allowed to have. You can thank software patents for this situation.

TL;DR: Your parody does nothing to prove one way or another whether this annonymous person is telling the truth.

[wareen]

The problem with your parody is that there is evidence supporting it.

So you've never seen any evidence that banks and credit card companies might try to squelsh their competition?

You really think they are so much different from pretty much any other large company out there?

I'm not saying that anybody is perceiving Bitcoin as an actual threat right now and this guy's survey was a joke for sure, but you don't have to be paranoid to bet on Bitcoin being actively worked against _if_ it was seen as a real threat by a large company.