Bitcoin FBI Report April 2012

[Andrew Bitcoiner]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92797476/FBI-Bitcoin-Report-April-2012

Holy smokes!  Very interesting, what do you guys think?

[Matthew N. Wright]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92797476/FBI-Bitcoin-Report-April-2012

Holy smokes!  Very interesting, what do you guys think?

rofl. It's on the internet so it must be true.

This is one of the ugliest/laziest trolls I've seen in a long time.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

Watching

[Raoul Duke]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92797476/FBI-Bitcoin-Report-April-2012

Holy smokes!  Very interesting, what do you guys think?

rofl. It's on the internet so it must be true.

This is one of the ugliest/laziest trolls I've seen in a long time.

I wouldn't be so sure it's a troll... Seems pretty realistic to me.
I'm more sure of you being a troll than that PDF being one.

[Matthew N. Wright]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92797476/FBI-Bitcoin-Report-April-2012

Holy smokes!  Very interesting, what do you guys think?

rofl. It's on the internet so it must be true.

This is one of the ugliest/laziest trolls I've seen in a long time.

I wouldn't be so sure it's a troll... Seems pretty realistic to me.
I'm more sure of you being a troll than that PDF being one.

Look at the horrible quality (not the image quality, the horrible design). Since when does the FBI release private information like this, much less in such a horrible design? This is a 12 year old's copypasta in Word.

[julz]

I assess with a medium confidence level - that this is a genuine leak.
The overall tone,scope and language used are suggestive to me that it's the real deal.

Trolls are seldom so understated, nor do they have such attention to detail.

[Raoul Duke]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92797476/FBI-Bitcoin-Report-April-2012

Holy smokes!  Very interesting, what do you guys think?

rofl. It's on the internet so it must be true.

This is one of the ugliest/laziest trolls I've seen in a long time.

I wouldn't be so sure it's a troll... Seems pretty realistic to me.
I'm more sure of you being a troll than that PDF being one.

Look at the horrible quality (not the image quality, the horrible design). Since when does the FBI release private information like this, much less in such a horrible design? This is a 12 year old's copypasta in Word.

I'll take the FBI's published horrible design any time over an unpublished excelently designed Bitcoin Magazine

It's a Word copypasta? It sure is... What do you think the FBI uses? Adobe InDesign? lol
Your reply is full of fail. Liked CBH's reply more

FFS Matthew, keep your non-trolling promise. You already broke it at least 2 times today.

I assess with a medium confidence level - that this is a genuine leak.
The overall tone,scope and language used are suggestive to me that it's the real deal.

Trolls are seldom so understated, nor do they have such attention to detail.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[mrb]

Look at the horrible quality (not the image quality, the horrible design). Since when does the FBI release private information like this, much less in such a horrible design? This is a 12 year old's copypasta in Word.

The PDF file has been carefully anonymized: content has been sanitized (each page is an image, not text, hence the quality issue) and the file metadata has been stripped out. This was done extremely well, which would make sense given it seems to be leaked...

I side with julz, psy, and others: it appears to be a real leak.

Posted to HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3942479

[eleuthria]

Fun read whether its real or not.  I would side more towards it being real for the simple fact that it basically states that while Bitcoin is a potential problem for laundering/illegal activities, it's not seen as a significant problem or threat.  I'd be much more likely to call fake/troll if it was using hyperbole and an aggressive stance towards the "looming Bitcoin threat".

[theymos]

My Bitcoin Block Explorer was mentioned in an FBI report! Awesome!

I thought it was a pretty accurate and reasonable report. Not too anti-Bitcoin. Seems plausible that it's real.

[Matthew N. Wright]

In contrast to any other publication from the FBI:

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications

Why does everyone assume that a troll would only be trolling if it said the FBI was against Bitcoin? It'd be twice as funny to pretend it wasn't.

[Matthew N. Wright]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/92797476/FBI-Bitcoin-Report-April-2012

Holy smokes!  Very interesting, what do you guys think?

I've already given my opinion on the style of the document and how I think someone in this community made it with one hand while jacking off with the other, but now I question your intentions.

FBI Bitcoin Report April 2012
Best bitcoin advertising service http://www.bitcoinadvertisers.com/ Best bitcoin news service http://coinbits.com/

Obviously you uploaded this document yourself, so you're the one who obtained it. Care to share your source?

[n0ne]

Looks Legit.

[Stephen Gornick]

Again every published article I have ever come across describing FBI involvement in crime supports the fact that their intellectual level is far below the required metric for that level of comprehension.

Special agent Johnson is probably pulling your file right about now.  


From the [Update: alleged] FBI Report (PDF):

"All Bitcoin transactions are published online and Internet Protocol (IP) addressses are linked to the public Bitcoin transactions.  If a user does not anonymize his or her IP address, an interested party can identify the individual's physical location. (13, 14)"

Reference #14 ... Jason Mick.  Not the first inaccuracy from the media.   Won't be the last.
 - http://www.dailytech.com/Cracking+the+Bitcoin+Digging+Into+a+131M+USD+Virtual+Currency/article21878.htm

[Foxpup]

Well, it contains most factually accurate information about Bitcoin (in fact, probably the most factually accurate information in a single report - the only glaring error is the statement (on page 14) that bitcoins will cease to be generated in 2033, clearly based on a misinterpretation of the famous money-supply graph) presented sensibly from a law-enforcement perspective, so I'd say it's likely to be genuine. It strongly implies that the FBI don't see Bitcoin itself as the problem, but rather the illegal activities that involve Bitcoin and are potentially made easier by it (which is exactly the sort of reasonable approach that (all jokes aside) one would expect from the FBI).

[Matthew N. Wright]

You guys crack me up. You're already referencing it as "the FBI report". What a fail community. Excuse me while I go make another FBI report.

"Oops! it leaked! What do you guys think? Ignore the links to Bitcoin Magazine on the poster's status. I don't know how that got there"

[Raoul Duke]

... What a fail community. ...

Too bad the community didn't fail you when you came here 5 months ago asking for money in exchange for a magazine that still doesn't exist.

[publio]

Look at the horrible quality (not the image quality, the horrible design). Since when does the FBI release private information like this, much less in such a horrible design? This is a 12 year old's copypasta in Word.

Why do you criticize the design?  You're coming to conclusions without even reading the entire document-- you replied 6 mins after ops post.  You're the one who's trolling.


I think the doc is a fair assessment.  It seems legitimate.  The Third-Party Bitcoin Services section on page 8 is especially interesting.  Exchange services (in the US) must register with FinCEN.  Is Bitinstant the only one registered?

[herzmeister]

I believe it's legit, unironically. It's done diligently enough, and would be too much work for a troll. Also no hidden hints of "other origin" detected.

[julz]

For what it's worth - this wouldn't be the first FBI intelligence report to be leaked:

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/FBI:_White_Supremacist_Recruitment_of_Military_Personnel_2008
http://documents.law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/FBI_WHITE_SUPREMACY-2008-ocr.pdf     (note the similar design)

I still classify this document as extremely plausible.