Is stealing bitcoins illegal?

[btc-facebook]

The question I like to turn to is: who should bear the costs of law enforcement and prosecution.

If I am victimized by a scammer, are my neighbors obligated to pay the costs of investigating the crime, locating and apprehending the culprit, prosecuting, and then incarcerating him?  If so, does this mean that I have less incentive to protect my Bitcoin and to investigate those I have financial dealings with?  What if all the costs involved add up to more than the value involved - who should decide whether we call it quits on the investigation or not?

Is socialism really a fair way to handle this?

Is there a magic lamp we can rub that will bring forth a genie that will right all wrongs and triumph over evil?

The government should bear these costs. It is generally considered that a crime is considered a crime against society as even though someone stole from one person they could easily steal from several others in the future if they are not punished

The magic genie, and less incentive to protect oneself up front, then.

It is not always possible to detect all scams ahead of time. As with any transaction, one of you needs to send the other either bitcoin or goods being purchased first. There will always be a risk to someone that the counter party will scam, there is no way around this. Even with escrow there is a chance that the escrow could scam.

Also if someone steals all of your money from you then how are you suppose to finance a criminal prosecution?

[FeedTheDolphins]

Bitcoins aren't really controlled by a central government and a lawsuit in American ground probably wouldn't turn out too well for the accuser, so we step into this subjective nature of morality.  If there were some sort of universal laws of morality, it would probably indicate that stealing is wrong, but what do I know. 

[franky1]

why is there any if or but about it

trendon shavers(BS&T) asked people for funds in exchange for profits.. which he later did not return.. he is now dealing with court cases.
sonny V (BFL) asked for funds in exchange for mining rigs.. which he did not deliver. he is now dealing with court cases.
mark karpeles(mtgox) accepted funds for people to trade on his unsecure website.. the funds have not be returned. he is now dealing with court cases
Ross Ulbricht(silkroad) accepted funds for people to trade on his drug dealing website. he is now dealing with court cases.

in short, just because your using bitcoins does not mean illegal activity is not illegal. drug use, theft, fraud, extortion, blackmail. its still illegal, just slightly harder to catch you

[funtotry]

Bitcoins aren't really controlled by a central government and a lawsuit in American ground probably wouldn't turn out too well for the accuser, so we step into this subjective nature of morality.  If there were some sort of universal laws of morality, it would probably indicate that stealing is wrong, but what do I know. 

It doesn't matter if bitcoin is controlled by the government. It is still property. If someone steals you car (which is also not controlled by the government) they would be guilty of grand theft larceny. The same principle applies with stealing bitcoin.

[BBmmBB]

why is there any if or but about it

trendon shavers(BS&T) asked people for funds in exchange for profits.. which he later did not return.. he is now dealing with court cases.
sonny V (BFL) asked for funds in exchange for mining rigs.. which he did not deliver. he is now dealing with court cases.
mark karpeles(mtgox) accepted funds for people to trade on his unsecure website.. the funds have not be returned. he is now dealing with court cases
Ross Ulbricht(silkroad) accepted funds for people to trade on his drug dealing website. he is now dealing with court cases.

in short, just because your using bitcoins does not mean illegal activity is not illegal. drug use, theft, fraud, extortion, blackmail. its still illegal, just slightly harder to catch you

..or easier! ? 

[bornil267645]

No matter which way you try to smother it, A crime is still a crime. So beware of the crime.

[BBmmBB]

No matter which way you try to smother it, A crime is still a crime. So beware of the crime.

I THOUGHT THATS WHY THERE WAS BITCOIN SO PEOPLE KAINT GET CAUGHT DOING SHADELESS STUFF? 

[foxkyu]

Would this be considered illegal considering no one would know whether the bitcoin address that received the bitcoins was my address?

A crime is a crime, be there evidence or not.

So the answer is yes.

he's right, crime is crime
and stealing is one kind of crime
and absolutely is illegal

[LiteCoinGuy]

maybe this topic is in the top 10 of the dumbest topics ever 

[doubleredrolex]

For example, if I mislead someone into sending me a large amount of bitcoins (in the United States) would that be illegal?

If I did not force them to do anything, but they sent them anticipating me to send a product in return, but I never send it.

Would this be considered illegal considering no one would know whether the bitcoin address that received the bitcoins was my address?

This is the dumbest question I have ever heard. Cant be serious. Same as, Is it ok for me to Kill someone if nobody ever finds out that I did it? wow.

[bf4btc]

Would this be considered illegal considering no one would know whether the bitcoin address that received the bitcoins was my address?

A crime is a crime, be there evidence or not.

So the answer is yes.

"Is stealing ______ illegal?"


Seriously?

lol

I guess stealing anything that someone considers to have value is illegal. I'm pretty sure if you were stealing dog turds from someone's yard it wouldn't really be stealing as no one likely would see any value in dog shit.

'murica

Yes stealing property (bitcoin included) is illegal. Yes getting someone to give you property under false pretenses is illegal. It does not matter what the property that is being stolen is, as long as it has value it would be considered to be stealing

[bithound]

Stealing anything is illegal..   But is it punishable by law? Then its a big NO for you.

[CryptoCarmen]

For example, if I mislead someone into sending me a large amount of bitcoins (in the United States) would that be illegal?

If I did not force them to do anything, but they sent them anticipating me to send a product in return, but I never send it.

Would this be considered illegal considering no one would know whether the bitcoin address that received the bitcoins was my address?

Stealing anything is illegal. I dont understand how you can doubt this.

[BlindMayorBitcorn]

No matter which way you try to smother it, A crime is still a crime. So beware of the crime.

I THOUGHT THATS WHY THERE WAS BITCOIN SO PEOPLE KAINT GET CAUGHT DOING SHADELESS STUFF? 

Bumped for posterity

[Dabs]

If anyone says:

"I have enough money" or "I'm doing it for the community/love/tech"... they are lying.

I respectfully disagree on this one. That's almost what I say all the time, and you can look up my post history. But maybe I'm the exception.

[leopard2]

Alright, since the general consensus is that stealing bitcoins is illegal.
If I discontinue the use of communication with said person (from a way that can be linked back to my IP address) and continue the conversation on an anonymized, encrypted email, with TOR, a VPN, and tails, and then execute said plan, law enforcement would have no way to prove that it was me who committed the crime and I would not be held accountable due to lack of evidence that it was me, correct?

And that kids, is why we use ESCROW when dealing with complete strangers.

But, would that statement that I posted be true?

Are you a troll?

FBI caught Silk Road and many others, who were using these techniques, so there is always some risk of getting caught.

In fact using all that results in a truckload of extra charges in addition to fraud, and those caught will go to jail until all Bitcoins have been mined, LOL

[rammy2k2]

BTC is money, so if u scam someone to send u money, of course its illegal.
how old are u 12 ?

[mercistheman]

You'll have to ask BFL

[BADecker]

Stealing anything is illegal, even bitcoins, if: 1) there is a law; 2) if someone makes a valid claim against someone who stole the bitcoins.

Stealing anything is wrong. Maybe it is not illegal. But it is wrong. The things that make it illegal are as listed in the first paragraph above, and repeated here:
1. If there is a law against it;
2. If someone makes a valid claim that someone else has stolen his bitcoins, thereby depriving him of his property unlawfully.

[Bitcoin Magazine]

Stealing anything is illegal, even bitcoins, if: 1) there is a law; 2) if someone makes a valid claim against someone who stole the bitcoins.

Stealing anything is wrong. Maybe it is not illegal. But it is wrong. The things that make it illegal are as listed in the first paragraph above, and repeated here:
1. If there is a law against it;
2. If someone makes a valid claim that someone else has stolen his bitcoins, thereby depriving him of his property unlawfully.

what if you steal a thieves' bitcoins, like the people that stole from Silk Road

morality, legality on that?