No. 1 in my list is a doozy !
If this web site decided to go offline forever with no warning (or was seized by US govt)
It would cripple the Altcoin scene and bring it to it's knee's..
(It would cause more damage than losing Bitcointalk forever with no warning)
..drum roll please
1)
Github2) Bitcointalk
What is their most valuable assets ?
I would say a combo of either IP address logs + PM's or coin code uploaded.
Also it's worth pointing out that Bitcointalk has been hacked MANY times !
AND.. Github & Bitcointalk both MUST comply with US legal requirements..
If the FBI or Homeland security can get a warrant (publicly or under seal)
They will both have to comply.. with ANY request.
So those are my top 2 and the rest would be places like Exchanges (who ask for your Picture ID)
And in Cryptsy's case even admitted to working with the US govt..
It's funny how BigVern announced he was hacked and had no idea who to talk to for 1.5 years.
While at the same exact time he was working with the US govt.. REPORTING USERS
We were told publicly by a Cryptsy staff member that they had an ongoing procedure
where they would make up a story and tell the client they were having technical problems
while they forwarded their personal info to the Fed's for investigation.
When i heard that i was not surprised i had already predicted this was happening
and said so on Cryptsy chat where you guessed it the guy who admitted back then called me a paranoid wacko.
I WAS right and i am always right
Reminded me of the Coindesk story where 2 guys met via LocalBitcoins to Sell/Buy BTC
they were arrested in a parking lot on a deal worth around 30k (ant-money laundering laws = 10k + over)
Github has already been in the news with complying with FBI requests in various cases too.
Sort of like a VPN that can get a silent warrant and cops at their door..
It all depends on what they can get approved via a judge.
And they don't have to apply for the warrant publicly and they can also make their victim stay silent.
The FBI has in the past seized servers or sites then converted them into honey pots.
A sort of FBI Ransomware.. they show up and infect the system hijacking it for their purposes.
I have sen many cases of this in the Anti / Piracy scene.. that led to mass scene group arrests
after investigations that often spanned up to 6 years (by the FBI etc)
Do you all enjoy handing your personal info over to Exchanges ?
Explain to me what part of any of this is "Decentralized" or even private or where the precedent of legality was set.
Do you know who is in power ?
Pump Groups ?
The FBI ?
theymos ?
Exchanges ?
Millionaire Investors with "Pink Bentley's" ?