Have there been any significant government seizures of BTC?

Kluge

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Quote from: DobZombie on September 23, 2013, 11:09:53 AM

Quote from: Kluge on September 22, 2013, 01:56:10 PM

Quote from: RichG on September 22, 2013, 02:15:12 AM

KnightMB's private keys were seized. 374000BTC were in those keys.

Well, that'd be new and fascinating information on the case. Have a source?

What did KnightMB do? Why was his BTC seized?

He allegedly demanded a $1m ransom in BTC from Mitt Romney in exchange for not releasing his tax returns.

After raiding his house and handcuffing him and his wife, they determined he didn't have the tax returns. Authorities' smoking gun in the case are images of cats recovered on a USB drive, which they claim match a nearby woman's cats whose computer he worked on. The SS previously raided his house, which makes him extra-suspicious...

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.2583493

DobZombie

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Quote from: Kluge on September 22, 2013, 01:56:10 PM

Quote from: RichG on September 22, 2013, 02:15:12 AM

KnightMB's private keys were seized. 374000BTC were in those keys.

Well, that'd be new and fascinating information on the case. Have a source?

What did KnightMB do? Why was his BTC seized?

Kluge

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Quote from: RichG on September 22, 2013, 02:15:12 AM

KnightMB's private keys were seized. 374000BTC were in those keys.

Well, that'd be new and fascinating information on the case. Have a source?

mkbit88

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My original curiosity was more how would a gov react to owning a large sum of BTC, not really how they would acquire it. Yes, if you are smart no one can take BTC from you, but barring a life of financial ruin and being on the run from courts and tax agencies, one can be compelled to give up BTC just like any other asset. Apologies if I was not clear enough.

Lets try to keep this on topic to a gov holding BTC and what they ultimately did with it. (or speculation on what would happen).

Jace

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Quote from: blisscan on September 22, 2013, 06:09:17 AM

Apparently some people didn't have a backup of their wallets.

OK, but then the problem is not the seizure of bitcoins, but just plain stupidity.

Not backing up your bitcoins (on multiple places, also outside your house/office) is an accident waiting to happen. Crashing harddisks, laptops getting stolen, dogs chewing on USB drives, you know.

blisscan

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Quote from: mkbit88 on September 21, 2013, 05:53:13 AM

Quote from: blisscan on September 21, 2013, 02:25:31 AM

Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...

You sure they were destroyed? I would suggest to anyone in NYC to keep an eye out for laptops on police auction Wink

There are images of the destroyed laptops between minutes 25 and 27 of this video:
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/motherboard-tv-free-the-network

Apparently some people didn't have a backup of their wallets.

RichG

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KnightMB's private keys were seized. 374000BTC were in those keys.

DobZombie

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In case you hadn't heard, the US seems to think it can bloody well do what it wants

O.o

Jace

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What do you mean, "seizures of BTC".

Bitcoins can be encrypted and backed up, you know. Even with plausible deniability. Seizing computer ≠ seizing bitcoins. The government can't just go around and start seizing bitcoins, even if they wanted to.

LiteCoinGuy

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In Satoshi I Trust

Quote from: DobZombie on September 21, 2013, 06:46:24 AM

What about pirateat40? Didn't Trendon Shavers' computers get seized?

yes, as far as i can remember, thats fact.

DobZombie

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What about pirateat40? Didn't Trendon Shavers' computers get seized?

nomailing

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Quote from: mkbit88 on September 21, 2013, 05:53:13 AM

So it seems there have been no significant seizures. I wonder if a gov like germany, whom has declared bitcoin a legal currency, seized some bitcoins, could they legally destroy the BTC? (As in, its illegal to destroy cash money in the USA).

There was a significant seizure in Germany at the owner of bitcoin24 just 4 months ago. Although the police suspected fraud, they have just seized Euros and have frozen the bank accounts. They didn't seize the bitcoins although they could have done it and it would have made sense. Many people were wondering why not. Maybe the police was just not smart enough...

jubalix

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Quote from: mkbit88 on September 21, 2013, 05:53:13 AM

Quote from: blisscan on September 21, 2013, 02:25:31 AM

Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...

You sure they were destroyed? I would suggest to anyone in NYC to keep an eye out for laptops on police auction Wink

So it seems there have been no significant seizures. I wonder if a gov like germany, whom has declared bitcoin a legal currency, seized some bitcoins, could they legally destroy the BTC? (As in, its illegal to destroy cash money in the USA).

you can't really destroy btc, (without deleting every single copy of the blockchain), only stop btc being moved,

mkbit88

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Quote from: blisscan on September 21, 2013, 02:25:31 AM

Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...

You sure they were destroyed? I would suggest to anyone in NYC to keep an eye out for laptops on police auction Wink

So it seems there have been no significant seizures. I wonder if a gov like germany, whom has declared bitcoin a legal currency, seized some bitcoins, could they legally destroy the BTC? (As in, its illegal to destroy cash money in the USA).

Kluge

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Quote from: blisscan on September 21, 2013, 02:25:31 AM

Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...

Ouch. It sure would be nice to see some lawsuits demanding FMV back on those coins. I'd imagine they had them in the tens or hundreds as pocket change in those days.

blisscan

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Some bitcoins were seized and later destroyed when the police raided the occupy wall street camp. They took the laptops and later destroyed them. I don't think those policemen even know what bitcoin is ...

b!z

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I think there was a SR bust where they confiscated bitcoins, google it

marcotheminer

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┴puoʎǝq ʞool┴

Most probably, if thats a word combination lol
Mt gox has had fiat money seized over bitcoin problems!

franky1

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Quote from: DobZombie on September 20, 2013, 09:48:33 PM

What about freedom host getting busted for pedoporn. I think they went down because of their bitcoins being traced.

nope there was a javascript exploit they used with tor to get the true IP of freedom hosting.. so it was TOR related not bitcoin.... well thats what a quick google search on it just revealed to me atleast.

DobZombie

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What about freedom host getting busted for pedoporn. I think they went down because of their bitcoins being traced.

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