Hiding your assets from the government via BTC

[N12]

Do you think Kim Dotcom could have used Bitcoins to do so, instead of having everything seized? If I think about it, it makes lots of sense for rich people to diversify a certain percentage into BTC.

[1714878768]

1714878768

[1714878768]

1714878768

[BurtW]

I have thought about this and noted that you can hide a much value as you want on one physical bitcoin in your pocket.  Or even better yet, with a deterministic wallet you can hide as much wealth a you want to in your head!

Good luck trying to seize that - well waterboarding might do the trick.

[FreeMoney]

living on couches
working anywhere I please
holding private keys

[FreeMoney]

Kim seemed to want a ton of shit. But you could be richer still leaving nothing to be seized.

[cbeast]

living on couches
working anywhere I please
holding private keys

That's the life. 
I wonder if there is a Sofa Net for vagabonds looking for a place to crash?

[jim618]

I wonder if there is a Sofa Net for vagabonds looking for a place to crash?

couchsurfing.org

[cbeast]

I wonder if there is a Sofa Net for vagabonds looking for a place to crash?

couchsurfing.org

Now it only needs a smartphone app and bitcoin payment and I'll pack my knapsack and sleeping bag.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

living on couches
working anywhere I please
holding private keys

I'm sure Matthew's going to come along and snatch this up and publish it in the haiku section of Bitcoin Magazine.

~Bruno~

[FreeMoney]

living on couches
working anywhere I please
holding private keys

I'm sure Matthew's going to come along and snatch this up and publish it in the haiku section of Bitcoin Magazine.

~Bruno~

Lol, that's fine, just don't give me credit.

[Bitcoin Oz]

The real reason he got shut down was megaupload was about to bring out a service where 90% of revenue went back to the artist. Obviously the music industry being what it is they called their mates in  the FBI and got it squashed.

[dogisland]

The problem with hiding money in Bitcoin would be it's volatility. If the price falls you would lose a large part of your assets.

[N12]

Better to retain only 4% (maximum from 32 to 2, and that happened over a period of half a year, not suddenly) than 0% because all is seized, IMO.

[EhVedadoOAnonimato]

The problem with hiding money in Bitcoin would be it's volatility. If the price falls you would lose a large part of your assets.

And the problem with hiding money from governments in general (bitcoin or not) is how to spend it after, without getting caught.

I mean, you can spend on small consumable items, no problems. But go buy yourself a house or even a good car with undeclared money, and things start getting more difficult.

[chsados]

The real reason he got shut down was megaupload was about to bring out a service where 90% of revenue went back to the artist. Obviously the music industry being what it is they called their mates in  the FBI and got it squashed.

source?  i know they released that video with all those artists but never heard he was trying to do this

[cryptoxchange]

The real reason he got shut down was megaupload was about to bring out a service where 90% of revenue went back to the artist. Obviously the music industry being what it is they called their mates in  the FBI and got it squashed.

source?  i know they released that video with all those artists but never heard he was trying to do this

Here's one article - http://expertscolumn.com/content/why-megaupload-was-really-shutdown

[chsados]

The real reason he got shut down was megaupload was about to bring out a service where 90% of revenue went back to the artist. Obviously the music industry being what it is they called their mates in  the FBI and got it squashed.

source?  i know they released that video with all those artists but never heard he was trying to do this

Here's one article - http://expertscolumn.com/content/why-megaupload-was-really-shutdown

"We have a solution called the Megakey that will allow artists to earn income from users who download music for free," D-o-t-c-o-m outlined. "Yes that's right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works."

mind = blown.  

bitcoin + anonyupload + megakeys model = win?!  

is there any info out there how this exactly would have worked?  im assuming it would tie in the strategy all those megaupload users in the movie RLS blogs used?

[paraipan]

I wonder if there is a Sofa Net for vagabonds looking for a place to crash?

couchsurfing.org

Now it only needs a smartphone app and bitcoin payment and I'll pack my knapsack and sleeping bag.

i wanna do that, see the world 

[Portnoy]

The real reason he got shut down was megaupload was about to bring out a service where 90% of revenue went back to the artist. Obviously the music industry being what it is they called their mates in  the FBI and got it squashed.

source?  i know they released that video with all those artists but never heard he was trying to do this

Here's one article - http://expertscolumn.com/content/why-megaupload-was-really-shutdown

"The requested page could not be found."


hmm...

[unicron]

"The requested page could not be found."

Google cache

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yVTj7uX9wxQJ:expertscolumn.com/content/why-megaupload-was-really-shutdown+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

[cypherdoc]

"The requested page could not be found."

Google cache

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yVTj7uX9wxQJ:expertscolumn.com/content/why-megaupload-was-really-shutdown+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

now this is interesting...

[BrightAnarchist]

living on couches
working anywhere I please
holding private keys

+1

hashing to defend
a network of truth that guards
liberty my love

[lettucebee]

But how do you convert your money--especially a large amount--to bitcoin without going through an exchange?  That would be an obvious trail.

[cbeast]

But how do you convert your money--especially a large amount--to bitcoin without going through an exchange?  That would be an obvious trail.

I wish I had this problem, but if I did I would just use bit-instant or some other money processor that doesn't ask for ID. Or I would use #bitc-otc and trade someone in meat space.

[BurtW]

Hypothetically you can buy a lot of BTC for cash.  You have to trust the guy.  Sounds strange by you can just send him an envelope stuffed with cash and he deposits the BTC into your account.  Simple - but a lot of trust involved.

[EhVedadoOAnonimato]

Not to mention the risk of being robbed by the post service. You'd have to go through a considerable work to hide a significant amount of cash. Like drug traffickers hide their drug on containers, by putting it inside objects etc, you'd probably have to simulate a gift package with some items in it and hide the cash inside.

The guy operating a cash-in-the-mail exchange not only has to remain honest, but he has to be clever too, constantly changing his mailboxes. If a mailman finds out that a particular mailbox receives cash often, he just found out a gold mine for him. Or worse, if he's the "government sucker" type (aka "law abiding") , he might denounce it. Where I live, for instance, it is impossible, afaik, to have an anonymous mailbox, and sending cash via undeclared mail is illegal.

[antirack]

So if Kim Schmitz wanted to hide his money in the BitCoin network, he would have wired $170 million to Mt. Gox?

[cbeast]

So if Kim Schmitz wanted to hide his money in the BitCoin network, he would have wired $170 million to Mt. Gox?

It depends on the time frame. Right now that is not feasible because pumping that much into the market would spike the price. Wait, nevermind. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[PrintCoins]

So if Kim Schmitz wanted to hide his money in the BitCoin network, he would have wired $170 million to Mt. Gox?

I do believe that that would have been noticed by at least the speculators.

The problem is that investors in bitcoins are all small fries, and to buy or sell with this much fiat would swing the market into insanity.

[anu]

Good luck trying to seize that - well waterboarding might do the trick.

Plausible denyability: Have more than one deterministic wallet and give away just one of them to the government thugs.

[antirack]

So if Kim Schmitz wanted to hide his money in the BitCoin network, he would have wired $170 million to Mt. Gox?

I do believe that that would have been noticed by at least the speculators.

The problem is that investors in bitcoins are all small fries, and to buy or sell with this much fiat would swing the market into insanity.

The complete value of BitCoins at this moment is something 40-50 million US$ (8m BTC x US$ 5-6). It wouldn't swing the market into insanity, it's simply impossible, and frankly quit stupid, to try hiding such an amount of money in BitCoins. And what use would it be if one person owns them all?

There are enough solutions readily available for people like him, you just needs to speak to your favorite Swiss bank or send an email to the British Virgin Islands.

If it wouldn't be the for the support of BTC I wouldn't even put a small fractions of my savings into BTC. If the shit hits the fan, I'd like to have something I can use to buy what I have to buy. We are not there yet IMHO.

[BurtW]

There is enough BTC for someone to buy 100 million $ worth.  As they buy the price would go up.  We wouldn't "run out".   Your calculation of just taking the number of BTC and multiplying by the current price is totally flawed.

Even if someone decided to spend 100 million on BTC they would not "get them all".  Some would still hold on as the price rocketed.

Would anyone do this?  I would sure like to see them try!

[anu]

Would anyone do this?  I would sure like to see them try!

Makes no sense for any of us to do this because the price would fall down again after we stopped buying. For someone with deep pockets and big plans, this may just be the way to go, however.

[PrintCoins]

Would anyone do this?  I would sure like to see them try!

Makes no sense for any of us to do this because the price would fall down again after we stopped buying. For someone with deep pockets and big plans, this may just be the way to go, however.

Ahh the speculation game. What would happen if someone seriously tried to do this?

I am guessing that it would cause the price to shoot at least past $200 per coin. Keep in mind he wouldn't be doing this in a vacuum, and plenty would jump on his bandwagon. It would also cause bitcoin to jump back into the news, and attract new investors.

He would probably be best served by doing it all in one shot in mass (this way he gets ahead of the hype). What would be crazy is that if one $100M person jumps in, it makes another start to think it isn't that bad of an idea. And once you have two people...