Bitcoin in Jail

[m3]

well, people in jail do not have as easy access to electronic devices so that would not work. I mean if you print out paper wallets that could be transmitted between cellmates as "cash" but i doubt most people in jail are smart enough to use/understand bitcoin.

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[Justin00]

sorry, what ?

anyone smart enough to use Bitcoin, is likely a Christian and would never end up in Jail.  first off.

[Bitcoin Magazine]

well, people in jail do not have as easy access to electronic devices so that would not work. I mean if you print out paper wallets that could be transmitted between cellmates as "cash" but i doubt most people in jail are smart enough to use/understand bitcoin.

there is no economy in jail.  first off.

this "economy" is bogus and propagated on jail shows such as COPS and Jail and SpikeTV

[Nerazzura]

And to use Bitcoins in jail if they jail did NOT accept them, you would just trade wallets that have set amounts on them, or have someone (or a few people) on the outside move the coins around for everyone.

how they can make transactions with outsiders, they need an internet connection and a few personal pc if they store in an offline wallet, but if it has a physical form. it is better

[chaosPT]

They use cash my friend so there wont be more trouble or second hand

[abercrombie]

Jail is similar to a mad max situation.

No internet, no bitcoin.

But I don't agree with no Internet for jailbirds.  If you've ever had to watch over kids, they become subdued once you give them a tablet.

[Bitcoin-hotep]

anyone smart enough to use Bitcoin [...] never end up in Jail. 

In a society of slaves the free thinkers usually wind up in jail. 

They need a like button here.

[franky1]

They need a like button here.

for you, its a dislike button..

[Harley997]

well, people in jail do not have as easy access to electronic devices so that would not work. I mean if you print out paper wallets that could be transmitted between cellmates as "cash" but i doubt most people in jail are smart enough to use/understand bitcoin.

Another very good point. Not only is the average jail inmate uneducated, but also the only way to really trade bitcoin is with paper wallets but this defeats the purpose of using bitcoin in the first place

[Bitcoin-hotep]

They need a like button here.

for you, its a dislike button..

Did I kill your puppy or something? Why do you follow me around all negative?

[DeeBo]

Has anyone ever heard of Bitcoins being used in jail?

Someone could easily have someone create them a bunch of wallets with a sum of coins they have on the outside, then have someone send them the addresses and the amounts. Then trade those addresses. Or, some people have people that visit them all the time and will take care of business stuff for people, and someone could just keep a ledger then have visitation and tell the person on the outside where to send what coins, and who else to contact so that they could get their share paid.

People reading this are like "How can you trust the person to actually pay", well in jail the person usually pays or the person finds some other way to get paid back.

Eventually, there could even be a coin made for this, and eventually petitions could be made for the institutions to start accepting it so that people don't do trading on the outside, unless they are on the outside.

It would also be good work incentive for prisoners if they made this themselves, premined it, and paid them with it. That way people could earn money in jail that they can use outside, as long as they play by the rules.

Most jails in the US don't allow internet access to inmates other than through a pre paid e-mail only system. You would have to get around "prison should be as painful as possible" law and order crowd to get any kind of reform.

I was not suggesting internet access.

If the prison were to accept it, what would happen is you would get a wallet when you came in. They would put that on a bracelet or whatever, and you would use that to buy things at commissary just by showing the guy your wrist so he could write it down (or scan it) and deduct that from the wallet they made for you, and you would have to have someone buy coins or mine for you, or you would have to do work to earn the coins that the jail mined.

This sounds shitty (more people would join inmate worker programs) , BUT you could leave jail with some money that might end up on the exchanges.

That's more or less the way they already do commissary (only with USD instead of BTC.)  They give you an inmate number when you get booked in, your family puts money on your account, and money gets deducted whenever you buy something.  They're not going to want to use bitcoin because it's an internal system.  No need to fool with wallets, encryption, and broadcasting transactions when all you need is a ledger of how much money is on each account especially when there's only one place for inmates to spend the money (commissary.)  Plus there's no reason to give inmates an actual curreny when it's cheaper to just give them "JailBux" or credit for overpriced food.

Now the other way they could utilize bitcoin is to accept it as a way for families to send money to the inmates.  For the reasons I stated above, they would likely just credit the inmate for the equivilent amount in USD and put that in their commissary account.  However, even if they do this, it's not likely to reduce the cost of sending money or make it any quicker.  You need to understand just how many people profit off throwing others in jail.  In order to send money to an inmate you're probably going to have to go through a company like JPay.  I just pulled up a random prison to get their rates:

http://www.jpay.com/Facility-Details/California-State-Prison-System/California-City-Correctional-Center.aspx

The very least you're going to pay is 5% and that's only if you send $200.  If you only have $20 to send you're going to pay 20%.  These companies have deals with the state (or private prison) to be the sole provider of the money services.  They have a monopoly and there's no way they're going to let up on those prices.  In fact, if they do start accepting bitcoin, I can see them using an exchange rate that heavily favors them making it cost even more.  Just because the technology has improved, a company with a monopoly isn't going to drop prices.  Same with inmate phone calls... when everyone else got Sprint's 10 cents a minute long distance, inmates are paying up to $1 a minute.

The one place I can actually see bitcoin being used effectively is on the black market.  Basically the way it works now if someone wants to buy, say drugs, in a larger amount than is feasible to trade in food or stamps they'll tell the buyer's family to send money to the seller's family via Western Union or MoneyGram.  Obviously that's going to leave a paper trail and likely require the money recipient to show ID.  If they instead sent a bitcoin transaction, it would cut most of the paper and speed up the transit time so Smacky McInmate can have his heroin in half the time.

[Justin00]

Do you run the bitcoin magazine or have anything to do with it, other than your username ?

well, people in jail do not have as easy access to electronic devices so that would not work. I mean if you print out paper wallets that could be transmitted between cellmates as "cash" but i doubt most people in jail are smart enough to use/understand bitcoin.

there is no economy in jail.  first off.

this "economy" is bogus and propagated on jail shows such as COPS and Jail and SpikeTV

[Bitcoin-hotep]

Has anyone ever heard of Bitcoins being used in jail?

Someone could easily have someone create them a bunch of wallets with a sum of coins they have on the outside, then have someone send them the addresses and the amounts. Then trade those addresses. Or, some people have people that visit them all the time and will take care of business stuff for people, and someone could just keep a ledger then have visitation and tell the person on the outside where to send what coins, and who else to contact so that they could get their share paid.

People reading this are like "How can you trust the person to actually pay", well in jail the person usually pays or the person finds some other way to get paid back.

Eventually, there could even be a coin made for this, and eventually petitions could be made for the institutions to start accepting it so that people don't do trading on the outside, unless they are on the outside.

It would also be good work incentive for prisoners if they made this themselves, premined it, and paid them with it. That way people could earn money in jail that they can use outside, as long as they play by the rules.

Most jails in the US don't allow internet access to inmates other than through a pre paid e-mail only system. You would have to get around "prison should be as painful as possible" law and order crowd to get any kind of reform.

I was not suggesting internet access.

If the prison were to accept it, what would happen is you would get a wallet when you came in. They would put that on a bracelet or whatever, and you would use that to buy things at commissary just by showing the guy your wrist so he could write it down (or scan it) and deduct that from the wallet they made for you, and you would have to have someone buy coins or mine for you, or you would have to do work to earn the coins that the jail mined.

This sounds shitty (more people would join inmate worker programs) , BUT you could leave jail with some money that might end up on the exchanges.

That's more or less the way they already do commissary (only with USD instead of BTC.)  They give you an inmate number when you get booked in, your family puts money on your account, and money gets deducted whenever you buy something.  They're not going to want to use bitcoin because it's an internal system.  No need to fool with wallets, encryption, and broadcasting transactions when all you need is a ledger of how much money is on each account especially when there's only one place for inmates to spend the money (commissary.)  Plus there's no reason to give inmates an actual curreny when it's cheaper to just give them "JailBux" or credit for overpriced food.

Now the other way they could utilize bitcoin is to accept it as a way for families to send money to the inmates.  For the reasons I stated above, they would likely just credit the inmate for the equivilent amount in USD and put that in their commissary account.  However, even if they do this, it's not likely to reduce the cost of sending money or make it any quicker.  You need to understand just how many people profit off throwing others in jail.  In order to send money to an inmate you're probably going to have to go through a company like JPay.  I just pulled up a random prison to get their rates:

http://www.jpay.com/Facility-Details/California-State-Prison-System/California-City-Correctional-Center.aspx

The very least you're going to pay is 5% and that's only if you send $200.  If you only have $20 to send you're going to pay 20%.  These companies have deals with the state (or private prison) to be the sole provider of the money services.  They have a monopoly and there's no way they're going to let up on those prices.  In fact, if they do start accepting bitcoin, I can see them using an exchange rate that heavily favors them making it cost even more.  Just because the technology has improved, a company with a monopoly isn't going to drop prices.  Same with inmate phone calls... when everyone else got Sprint's 10 cents a minute long distance, inmates are paying up to $1 a minute.

The one place I can actually see bitcoin being used effectively is on the black market.  Basically the way it works now if someone wants to buy, say drugs, in a larger amount than is feasible to trade in food or stamps they'll tell the buyer's family to send money to the seller's family via Western Union or MoneyGram.  Obviously that's going to leave a paper trail and likely require the money recipient to show ID.  If they instead sent a bitcoin transaction, it would cut most of the paper and speed up the transit time so Smacky McInmate can have his heroin in half the time.

I know, I have been to jail, that is why I knew what model to use. And I wouldn't expect the jails themselves to adopt the idea until the coins were too rampant for them to stop.

[Bitcoin Magazine]

im athiest, but i have morals to not do anything that will land me in jail

Spoken like a truly uninformed citizen.

If you're in the U.S., you have committed a felony merely by existing as an adult. You may not be aware of it, but you have. We all have.

We are ALL felons...only some of us are convicted. Public ignorance of this fact is what attributes to poor public policy/legislation.

i commited a crime by talking to a musician at a bar, and asking to play his instrument.  the bouncer thru me out, and i walked back in.  felony trespassing (actually a misdemanor).  but i got to spend the night in jail..

[Bitcoin-hotep]

im athiest, but i have morals to not do anything that will land me in jail

Spoken like a truly uninformed citizen.

If you're in the U.S., you have committed a felony merely by existing as an adult. You may not be aware of it, but you have. We all have. American laws are so vague and numerous that it's unbelievable.

We are ALL felons...only some of us are convicted. Public ignorance of this fact is what contributes to poor public policy/legislation.

Lol, exactly. I have never been in jail for doing something morally wrong. I have been to jail for smoking weed.

[InwardContour]

im athiest, but i have morals to not do anything that will land me in jail

Spoken like a truly uninformed citizen.

If you're in the U.S., you have committed a felony merely by existing as an adult. You may not be aware of it, but you have. We all have. American laws are so vague and numerous that it's unbelievable.

We are ALL felons...only some of us are convicted. Public ignorance of this fact is what contributes to poor public policy/legislation.

Lol, exactly. I have never been in jail for doing something morally wrong. I have been to jail for smoking weed.

I really don't understand why so many people are advertising the fact that they have been to jail. This is really not something that people should brag about.

[Bitcoin-hotep]

im athiest, but i have morals to not do anything that will land me in jail

Spoken like a truly uninformed citizen.

If you're in the U.S., you have committed a felony merely by existing as an adult. You may not be aware of it, but you have. We all have. American laws are so vague and numerous that it's unbelievable.

We are ALL felons...only some of us are convicted. Public ignorance of this fact is what contributes to poor public policy/legislation.

Lol, exactly. I have never been in jail for doing something morally wrong. I have been to jail for smoking weed.

I really don't understand why so many people are advertising the fact that they have been to jail. This is really not something that people should brag about.

I am not advertising it. Someone said something about how it works in jail and I said "I have been in there, that is how I basically already had the system correct".

Why does everyone that hears someone talk about jail have to act like the person is glorifying it?

[bluemountain]

im athiest, but i have morals to not do anything that will land me in jail

Spoken like a truly uninformed citizen.

If you're in the U.S., you have committed a felony merely by existing as an adult. You may not be aware of it, but you have. We all have. American laws are so vague and numerous that it's unbelievable.

We are ALL felons...only some of us are convicted. Public ignorance of this fact is what contributes to poor public policy/legislation.

I have heard of the book '8 felonies per day' however I really do not believe the premise

[Sydboy]

aren't you only a felon if you are convicted ?
i would bet half the people saying that have been to jail are just trying to act tough.

[allthingsluxury]

Cigs are currency in jail.