SilkRoad 2 Taken down by Feds

[Quickseller]

Why did he not learn from his buddy "DPR" that you just can't get away with this in the US!?! He was even busted in the same damn city!!!  WTF!!!
If I remember right BTC went from around $130 to around $70 within a week of the last bust but there are more and even better markets now. People will just migrate.

Maybe they knew each other? I think if you are going to run one of these sites the bare minimum you need to do is locate yourself in a country that isn't on co-operative terms with the US.

he was making 400k+ per month. If you were making that much money you are going to want to live in the US to be able to enjoy luxuries that can be purchased in the US (or places that are friendly to the U.S. as places that are not friendly tend to be third world like countries).

I do agree that he made horrible mistakes - it was almost self sabotage

Other countries are available . I'd rather live like a king in Cuba or something than live in fear in the US. I suppose it's also possible to run one of these sites from the US, but only if you're completely certain you've covered all your tracks, though I personally wouldn't like to take the risk.

living in places like Cuba means that you have other risks like questionable health care if you get sick and law enforcement who are corrupt who may get paid to steal from you or arrest you for questionable reasons. Plus Cuba specifically is on the short list of countries that the US may invade so you would still be at risk (plus other countries the U.S. is not friendly with also faces this risk)

[Quickseller]

he was making 400k+ per month. If you were making that much money you are going to want to live in the US to be able to enjoy luxuries that can be purchased in the US (or places that are friendly to the U.S. as places that are not friendly tend to be third world like countries).

I do agree that he made horrible mistakes - it was almost self sabotage

Even that kind of money wouldn't be worth it for me. Money is worthless if you can't spend it as he's likely going to be in jail for the rest of his life. I really can't imagine the stress of the paranoia I'd be under operating such a site, but if I did I wouldn't be dumb enough to log in from my home computer even through tor.

well yes the EV of running this kind of site appears to be negative as the risk of jail seems to be close to 100%. But if you do take the risk you want to spend your money while you have your freedom.

[Sutters Mill]

he was making 400k+ per month. If you were making that much money you are going to want to live in the US to be able to enjoy luxuries that can be purchased in the US (or places that are friendly to the U.S. as places that are not friendly tend to be third world like countries).

I do agree that he made horrible mistakes - it was almost self sabotage

Even that kind of money wouldn't be worth it for me. Money is worthless if you can't spend it as he's likely going to be in jail for the rest of his life. I really can't imagine the stress of the paranoia I'd be under operating such a site, but if I did I wouldn't be dumb enough to log in from my home computer even through tor.

It wouldn't be worth it but obviously these guys don't think they'll get caught, but they're obviously not smarter than an entire team of feds and I can't imagine the resources they have available to them. If I was going to use Silk Road even just as a buyer I wouldn't buy something from there unless I was booting from a tails CD and using a internet connection that wasn't tied to me - ie a public one or maybe even buy a pay as you go dongle that was no way attached to me. Maybe he would've been ok if he'd have done something similar, though I'm sure it's not quite as easy as that.

[hilariousandco]

Why did he not learn from his buddy "DPR" that you just can't get away with this in the US!?! He was even busted in the same damn city!!!  WTF!!!
If I remember right BTC went from around $130 to around $70 within a week of the last bust but there are more and even better markets now. People will just migrate.

Maybe they knew each other? I think if you are going to run one of these sites the bare minimum you need to do is locate yourself in a country that isn't on co-operative terms with the US.

he was making 400k+ per month. If you were making that much money you are going to want to live in the US to be able to enjoy luxuries that can be purchased in the US (or places that are friendly to the U.S. as places that are not friendly tend to be third world like countries).

I do agree that he made horrible mistakes - it was almost self sabotage

Other countries are available . I'd rather live like a king in Cuba or something than live in fear in the US. I suppose it's also possible to run one of these sites from the US, but only if you're completely certain you've covered all your tracks, though I personally wouldn't like to take the risk.

living in places like Cuba means that you have other risks like questionable health care if you get sick and law enforcement who are corrupt who may get paid to steal from you or arrest you for questionable reasons. Plus Cuba specifically is on the short list of countries that the US may invade so you would still be at risk (plus other countries the U.S. is not friendly with also faces this risk)

Cuba actually has a great and free healthcare system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Cuba plus many other benefits like free education up to University level I believe. It's a very under-appreciated country, though obviously they USG will try paint it as a corrupt third world country when the reality is much different.

[Joe_Bauers]

History has shown that the technology and resources available to the highest echelons of power are ~10-15 years ahead of anything that is publicly known. Ex SR-71 Blackbird.

I think that even if the people running these sites use perfect opsec and are absolute mastermind geniuses, they'll probably be caught unless they can somehow find a way to do it outside of the system.

Tor is probably still useful, but also still part of the system.

[BitcoinAccepted]

Guanaja would be my hideout.

Unspoilt countryside, miles of beaches & coral reef, only 3km of paved road, 25 degrees in winter.

+ Honduras has no extradition treaty with US.

[MR1]

SR 2 blast will not effect much on the BTC price. The price will remain approximately the same.

[e4xit]

SR 2 blast will not effect much on the BTC price. The price will remain approximately the same.

Thank you, Captain hind-sight.

[JLynn171]

It was bound to happen, these DNM are scary to the core.

What do you guys think BTC is going to do, up or down?

No suprises... any agency that consists of three letters I.E.  FBI, DEA, NSA, are not uneducated and easy to ellude... it is their job to make sure things like this do not exist in this world, but its others jobs to make sure that they do, it will always be an updown battle between the "good" and the "bad"

[Rampton]

Guanaja would be my hideout.

Unspoilt countryside, miles of beaches & coral reef, only 3km of paved road, 25 degrees in winter.

+ Honduras has no extradition treaty with US.

I'd love to live off the grid in an exotic country and live off btc for the rest of my life, though I guess I'd need an internet connection at least.

SR 2 blast will not effect much on the BTC price. The price will remain approximately the same.

Thank you, Captain hind-sight.

Lol. The price does seem to have gone up according to Preev, though I can't see why it would just because SR has gone down.

[TippingPoint]

Despite the marketing advantages, it appears that operating a site named SilkRoad(x) attracts too many lightening bolts.

Something with a higher and more legitimate purpose.

Possible names:

• FreeTrade
• SelfRegulated
• HonorSystem
• CombatOrganizedCrime
• GoldenRule

[QuestionAuthority]

It's always in San Francisco! Do these retards think San Francisco is somehow not attached to the USA?

[DonQuijote]

Silk Road 3 coming soon 

Maybe... openbazaar with thousand of nodes?

[BayAreaCoins]

DopePath is a perfect name for just a legal weed selling place. Not some big road, but just a nice lil dope path

[leopard2]

No one was forced to give money to SR2
Everyone is forced to give money to the massively overstaffed government organizations who destroy these marketplaces

Who are the bad guys again? Those who take your money by threatening you with violence, I suppose? 

[Coinshot]

Why did he not learn from his buddy "DPR" that you just can't get away with this in the US!?! He was even busted in the same damn city!!!   WTF!!!
If I remember right BTC went from around $130 to around $70 within a week of the last bust but there are more and even better markets now. People will just migrate.

Maybe they knew each other? I think if you are going to run one of these sites the bare minimum you need to do is locate yourself in a country that isn't on co-operative terms with the US.

he was making 400k+ per month. If you were making that much money you are going to want to live in the US to be able to enjoy luxuries that can be purchased in the US (or places that are friendly to the U.S. as places that are not friendly tend to be third world like countries).

I do agree that he made horrible mistakes - it was almost self sabotage

There a lot of places one can live in luxury. Some of these place even will let you enjoy the same luxuries for a smaller amount.

I think he just thought he was too arrogant to realise he could be caught.

[darkmule]

he was making 400k+ per month. If you were making that much money you are going to want to live in the US to be able to enjoy luxuries that can be purchased in the US (or places that are friendly to the U.S. as places that are not friendly tend to be third world like countries).[/quote]

If you are making $400k a month and spending accordingly, you are going to appear on the radar of the IRS.  Contrary to popular opinion, the IRS doesn't catch the majority of people it catches with some complicated analysis, but simply because they're claiming some small amount of income while conspicuously consuming.

[segvec]

He got caught because he did not know how to properly spend and hide his assets.
Just horrible all around...smart but dumb.

[williamevanl]

Wow, he bought a freaking Tesla! I'm surprised google handed over his information like they did.

[darkmule]

Wow, he bought a freaking Tesla!

Way to stay inconspicuous.