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Topic: Bitcoin Confiscation - page 2. (Read 4419 times)

hero member
Activity: 536
Merit: 500
April 13, 2013, 09:34:03 AM
#35
Coins are anonymous if your identity and your public key address are not connected. You just transfer them to a new address and it's going to be very hard to prove that you're also that new address. Plus, there are coin washing machines, coin mixing services, and shared hosted wallets, and even gambling games that send you back money that went through them. Sooner or later, zerocoin is going to be implemented.

Indeed, if we all traded in our dollars and dollar assets, and fully restandardized the global monetary system on bitcoins are technically a far superior design to date.
hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1000
www.DonateMedia.org
April 11, 2013, 05:50:00 PM
#34
The only thing fighting Bitcoin would get them is increased Bitcoin use from all the publicity, as there is nothing about Bitcoin not to like, unless you are a dirty bank with something to lose, like control of currency.

Just like BitTorrent, the attacks against it only pushed it further underground, for 10 years and millions of dollars later in lawsuits and their armies of copyright lawyers, P2P file sharing with the BitTorrent protocol is still alive and well as it always has been.

The government is too slow to do anything about it. By the time they manage to pass any anti-crypto-currency motions Bitcoin will be on the verge of crushing the Dollar and Euro, or so I hope anyway.

They can do nothing to attack the core of an open source platform, the only thing they could do is go after exchanges and end users, both of which are difficult to do. The only way Bitcoin ends is when everyone stops using it.

That aside, our governments and banks are worried about a much larger mess right now, Bitcoin is something so far I think they have been cautious to mention for fear of helping it spread more, even sparking outrage at their efforts to undermine it. Not their greatest worry, for now.

They can confiscate my wallet when they pry it out of my cold, dead computer, which they will need to step over my corpse to get to.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
April 09, 2013, 06:24:57 PM
#33
In some countries (Cyprus included) it is forbidden to do many things with fiat without using a bank.

Such laws are generally widely flouted.  As they should be.
newbie
Activity: 14
Merit: 0
April 09, 2013, 05:04:36 PM
#32
how about BTC sucks up all fiat money in da wurlde Huh


then the planet is on the BTC STANDARD
full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
April 09, 2013, 04:44:24 PM
#31
Bitcoin confiscation? Really?
When btc will value 5000$, the governments will think different  Cheesy
hero member
Activity: 994
Merit: 501
PredX - AI-Powered Prediction Market
April 09, 2013, 09:07:35 AM
#30
If one considers that exchanges hold peoples deposits (in both Bitcoin and fiat), and those exchanges already being regulated (most of them indirectly, some of them directly), what is stopping the regulators giving those deposits a "haircut", this time a double whammy - in both Bitcoin and fiat?

Nothing, methinks.

The sweet illusion of infallibility!

It is entirely optional to hold bitcoins in exchanges.

sure, like it is entirely optional to hold fiat in a bank account

In some countries (Cyprus included) it is forbidden to do many things with fiat without using a bank.
newbie
Activity: 14
Merit: 0
April 09, 2013, 09:04:39 AM
#29
in a recent interview of Putin by German radio ARD, Putin laughed his ass off.

now all the Oligarchs can just stay in Russia and have their monies confiscated there, instead of in the West.


LOL
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
Now they are thinking what to do with me
April 09, 2013, 06:14:31 AM
#28
The UK still has many retarded laws, that law, amongst many others, are simply not enforcable.

What's the government gonna do? Torture the person to get the private key? To steal their money.

We'll revolt much sooner than that day happens.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
April 09, 2013, 01:10:49 AM
#27
Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom

Your turn?

I believe that law, at least in the absence of any evidence of an actual crime, is in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights and would not survive a challenge at the ECHR.

Of course, I could be wrong.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
Now they are thinking what to do with me
March 30, 2013, 05:11:41 AM
#26
Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom

Your turn?
Sorry I transferred all my coins to this address 1............
That address does not belong to me or my wallet, I will give you the password for full access to my wallet files so you can be sure
As you well know that means I no longer own the coins nor can I transfer them to anyone.

i.e. have someone else, in advance, in another country, you trust to use for this if this event ever occurred Smiley

Spread your bitcoins around to a few wallets, save all the wallet.dat files somewhere safe usb/email/cd/etc, delete the bitcoin program off your computer/laptop, say to representative "bitcoin? what bitcoin?".

Waiting until he goes, download bitcoin wallet again.

Or multiple wallets with the majority of your wealth, with a little 'spending money' stored on a 'banking wallet' (like mtgox, blockchain, etc), delete wallet programs off your own hardware, use the money on your 'banking wallet' (after stating, "wallet, what wallet?". Whenever you need more money, upload 1 of your .dat files and download software, move some bitcoin onto 1 of the many 'banking wallets' you have.

Use tor to hide your activity.

problem solved?
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
March 30, 2013, 03:57:18 AM
#25
Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom

Your turn?
Sorry I transferred all my coins to this address 1............
That address does not belong to me or my wallet, I will give you the password for full access to my wallet files so you can be sure
As you well know that means I no longer own the coins nor can I transfer them to anyone.

i.e. have someone else, in advance, in another country, you trust to use for this if this event ever occurred Smiley

Brilliant, +1, and 0.1 BTC to your address, should arrive within today. Smiley
newbie
Activity: 70
Merit: 0
March 30, 2013, 03:56:31 AM
#24
I am reminded of FDR's executive order 6102 of 4/5/1933 which, by the stroke of a pen, made the mere possession of gold a federal crime, and offered rewards to anyone who betrayed anyone else. Sure, a handful of brave people tried to hide their gold, but the practice became as marginalized and shunned as, say, drugs or porn today.

I hate to say it, but if possession of a bitcoin privkey became a federal felony, with informant rewards, I can think of a couple of relatives who would rat me out in a heartbeat.

Drugs and porn marginalized? I thought that was all of southern California!

As far as Private Keys, I don't think I would be able to even begin to explain to a relative what Bitcoin is much less a private key. Bitcoin would have to become waaaay more widely accepted and mainstream for anyone around me to know. Even my spouse wouldn't know what one is.
legendary
Activity: 4592
Merit: 1851
Linux since 1997 RedHat 4
March 30, 2013, 03:50:38 AM
#23
Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom

Your turn?
Sorry I transferred all my coins to this address 1............
That address does not belong to me or my wallet, I will give you the password for full access to my wallet files so you can be sure
As you well know that means I no longer own the coins nor can I transfer them to anyone.

i.e. have someone else, in advance, in another country, you trust to use for this if this event ever occurred Smiley
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
March 30, 2013, 03:33:33 AM
#22
Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom

Your turn?

The key is a shared secret/ the address is a multisig one, but unfortunately, the other people holding the keys are dead(give names of random people you know who recently died while in fact you hold all parts of the keys/secret) Sure, everyone knows if they can decide to convict you when they can't even prove you are not complying, there is nothing you can do. But still, bitcoin provides a maximal degree of protection and plausible deniability compared with other hoardable item.
full member
Activity: 135
Merit: 100
March 30, 2013, 03:28:44 AM
#21
Mere possession can be outlawed, but those laws can never be successfully enforced.

Example: firearms - there are laws all over the world regulating the possession of firearms, and those laws are utterly ineffective in their attempt of preventing the illegal firearm possession. Those laws are only effective if applied to the legal and dully registered firearm owners - which ironically are the only ones who comply with those laws.

Same with Bitcoin - if the governments outlaw the Bitcoin, the only Bitcoins that could be (easily) confiscated will be the ones deposited with legally compliant institutions - the ones stored in a private wallet could never be effectively confiscated.

Time to post the Bitcoin version of a "MOLON LAVE" poster, I suppose. :-)

legendary
Activity: 2142
Merit: 1010
Newbie
March 30, 2013, 03:08:58 AM
#20
Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_law#United_Kingdom

Your turn?
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
March 30, 2013, 02:36:33 AM
#19
I am reminded of FDR's executive order 6102 of 4/5/1933 which, by the stroke of a pen, made the mere possession of gold a federal crime, and offered rewards to anyone who betrayed anyone else. Sure, a handful of brave people tried to hide their gold, but the practice became as marginalized and shunned as, say, drugs or porn today.

No, it didn't.  It was immediately thrown out when an attempt was made to prosecute someone under it.  People own gold certificates and gold coins purportedly outlawed by that executive order to this day and they are openly collected.

A law purporting to outlaw Bitcoin would ultimately fare no better.  A lot of noise and saber-rattling was made about PGP distribution and ITAR regulations to this day create incredible nuisance (and worse) for our businesses, and Phil Zimmerman was harassed for years for distributing it, but ultimately never prosecuted because he did nothing that was not protected by the Constitution.

I doubt you will ever see the United States declare Bitcoin itself illegal, although you might see attempts to harass it and regulate it to death in a variety of ways, likely to be as successful as attempts to stamp out strong crypto in general.
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
March 30, 2013, 02:25:38 AM
#18
I am reminded of FDR's executive order 6102 of 4/5/1933 which, by the stroke of a pen, made the mere possession of gold a federal crime, and offered rewards to anyone who betrayed anyone else. Sure, a handful of brave people tried to hide their gold, but the practice became as marginalized and shunned as, say, drugs or porn today.

I hate to say it, but if possession of a bitcoin privkey became a federal felony, with informant rewards, I can think of a couple of relatives who would rat me out in a heartbeat.

Try brainwallet.

"Yes, good sir, I do own some bitcoins, but only 3 BTCs, here is my private key. What, 500? Who told you so? Some of my relatives? You can't just rely on some hear-says as evidences right?"

Or if your prosecutor is more of a "by the book" type: "Yes sir, I did store 500 bitcoins in an address(which is too long, who the fuck will remember that?) And I use this brainwallet setup to protect my private key, but unfortunately, I have totally forgotten about my passphrase, so perhaps these bitcoins are forever lost. And I think you can't prove otherwise." or just simply: "Sorry I lost my private key."
newbie
Activity: 29
Merit: 0
March 30, 2013, 12:03:58 AM
#17
Australian gold confiscation with discussion, focus on enforceability.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
March 29, 2013, 10:15:08 AM
#16
I am reminded of FDR's executive order 6102 of 4/5/1933 which, by the stroke of a pen, made the mere possession of gold a federal crime, and offered rewards to anyone who betrayed anyone else. Sure, a handful of brave people tried to hide their gold, but the practice became as marginalized and shunned as, say, drugs or porn today.

Yeah, but you don't have to dig a hole in your back yard to hide your bitcoins.
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