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Topic: Romney's tax returns - first Bitcoin extortion? - page 10. (Read 33955 times)

hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
I can just see someone reporting their bitcoins stolen and a cop mistakenly arresting them for blackmailing Romney (or terrorism)
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 500
The story has apparently hit the Fox News ticker  Don't know if Bitcoins are mentioned though.

You just know that the psycho, Romney lovin' news outlets will be sure to spin it as some undeserved attack against such an upstanding American..
hero member
Activity: 868
Merit: 1000
The story has apparently hit the Fox News ticker  Don't know if Bitcoins are mentioned though.
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
This is right.  Bitcoin doesn't have to be technically destroyed, it just has to lose enough commercial mass to make it uninteresting as a payment system, and if the U.S. government makes it very difficult for money to reach exchanges, that's feasible.

There are other ways to sell besides exchanges. I suspect that if someone can make a dime off of it, they'll always figure out a way to sell.

Last year's crash should have killed bitcoin. I don't think it's going anywhere for awhile.

I just browsed silk road and there's  numerous ways to buy bitcoins there.
hero member
Activity: 868
Merit: 1000
http://imgur.com/a/zOJK6#0

Take a look at the building the records were stolen from. This isn't Fort Knox, that is for certain.

I once worked for a financial services company - the physical security was incredible.  Even once you were in the building - which required your fingerprint and a security pass for entry - you had to swipe your pass and enter a security code to open doors (and there were multiple doors between sections) and enter lifts.  Your pass determined which doors you could open and what floors the lift would take you to - the security system pretty much knew where you were to within 10 feet whenever you were in the building and that was before you even got near the computers.  Getting someone's financial records from their accountant's computer system would be child's play by comparison, I would imagine.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
I agree on the hoax aspect.  It doesn't seem like whoever did this really thought through the mechanics of what getting "$1 million USD" of Bitcoins would entail, or more likely, didn't care, because they were never intending on getting it.

I just hope for the pranksters' sake they covered their tracks better than it looks like they did.  Even without the tax returns, demanding money in return for silence is generally going to be considered extortion, and for a change, they've picked on someone politically connected enough to demand the feds "do something."  

I have a feeling that the SS is going to be knocking on some Texan's door, and this time the guy who answers it won't be able to get away with, "My account was compromised, officers. Do I look like I'm in the process of committing suicide?"

SS1: Just the same, we'll be taking all the computers in this home to make sure.
SS2: And what's the deal with that democratic-blue light in the upstairs bedroom?
SS1: Did you just try to bribe us?
SS3: Matt, take a look inside this box marked Woolong Device. Looks to me like this guy was set to do a mass mailing.

~Bruno~
newbie
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http://imgur.com/a/zOJK6#0

Take a look at the building the records were stolen from. This isn't Fort Knox, that is for certain.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
This is right.  Bitcoin doesn't have to be technically destroyed, it just has to lose enough commercial mass to make it uninteresting as a payment system, and if the U.S. government makes it very difficult for money to reach exchanges, that's feasible.

There are other ways to sell besides exchanges. I suspect that if someone can make a dime off of it, they'll always figure out a way to sell.

Last year's crash should have killed bitcoin. I don't think it's going anywhere for awhile.
full member
Activity: 206
Merit: 100

I wouldn't get so overconfident. They control the banking system. If they shut off funds transfers to Mt. Gox, which would be trivially easy to do, your bitcoin holdings will become worthless overnight.

There are exchanges in other parts of the world that would pick up the slack, using alternative means of funding. It would drive up the cost of acquiring and trading btc, which would probably drive up the value.

Governments banning commodities in demand have a history of increasing value.

80% of BTC exchanges are for USD. Source.

Bitcoin is still in its infancy. It would not survive a shutdown of USD-facing exchanges. It's too vulnerable.

How many Americans still play online poker? It can be done using VPNs, a foreign bank account and foreign mailing address, but nobody bothers because of the hassle.

This is right.  Bitcoin doesn't have to be technically destroyed, it just has to lose enough commercial mass to make it uninteresting as a payment system, and if the U.S. government makes it very difficult for money to reach exchanges, that's feasible.
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
I wonder if they would stick the excess in fort knox on a thumb drive  Cheesy

Hey, atleast then there would be something in there to secure.  du dun da CHING.  Tongue

hmm, maybe he would stash it in the secret compartment in the resolute desk......

They just need to paint it gold like the other stuff they have stored there.

You missed the point. They don't have any other gold stuff there.   

And, sadpandatech a rim shot sounds like...


I was referencing this -
http://www.prospectingjournal.com/fake-gold-detected-the-tungsten-gold-bar032612/
legendary
Activity: 2030
Merit: 1000
My money; Our Bitcoin.
I wonder if they would stick the excess in fort knox on a thumb drive  Cheesy

Hey, atleast then there would be something in there to secure.  du dun da CHING.  Tongue

hmm, maybe he would stash it in the secret compartment in the resolute desk......

They just need to paint it gold like the other stuff they have stored there.

You missed the point. They don't have any other gold stuff there.  

And, sadpandatech, a rim shot sounds like...
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
I wonder if they would stick the excess in fort knox on a thumb drive  Cheesy

Hey, atleast then there would be something in there to secure.  du dun da CHING.  Tongue

hmm, maybe he would stash it in the secret compartment in the resolute desk......

They just need to paint it gold like the other stuff they have stored there.
sr. member
Activity: 420
Merit: 250
i'm paulie_w and i support this message.
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 500
I wonder if they would stick the excess in fort knox on a thumb drive  Cheesy

Hey, atleast then there would be something in there to secure.  du dun da CHING.  Tongue

hmm, maybe he would stash it in the secret compartment in the resolute desk......
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Wat
By the time they setup a mt gox account to buy the bitcoins and went through AML to withdraw them the date would be long past  Cheesy

I wonder if Magical Tux would expedite things if the secret service showed up at his house and demanded 1 million dollars worth of bitcoin  Grin

hehe

I could imagine that if the president needed his people to get $1M to Gox's bank then a phone call from them would likely be enough to avoid the whole AMl process, beyond a fax or 2 between the banks involved.

Like others have said, they could likely buy up $500-750k BTC and have the acquired BTC be worth well over $1M when they were done. =)

I wonder if they would stick the excess in fort knox on a thumb drive  Cheesy
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 500
By the time they setup a mt gox account to buy the bitcoins and went through AML to withdraw them the date would be long past  Cheesy

I wonder if Magical Tux would expedite things if the secret service showed up at his house and demanded 1 million dollars worth of bitcoin  Grin

hehe

I could imagine that if the president needed his people to get $1M to Gox's bank then a phone call from them would likely be enough to avoid the whole AMl process, beyond a fax or 2 between the banks involved.

Like others have said, they could likely buy up $500-750k BTC and have the acquired BTC be worth well over $1M when they were done. =)
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
The king and the pawn go in the same box @ endgame
This looks like a job for John Goodman and Jeff Bridges.

LMAO. Jeff bridges is the name I give the cops when they stop me on my nightly jog and ask for ID.
sr. member
Activity: 420
Merit: 250
This looks like a job for John Goodman and Jeff Bridges.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
The king and the pawn go in the same box @ endgame
I'm sure they will just keep using them for nuclear weapons simulations and other sciency stuff.
legendary
Activity: 1470
Merit: 1002
Hello!
The feds could just use their super computers for a few hours to hash out the required amount...lol. Livermore and oakridge should do the trick, right?

Are you serious? That would just make the difficulty jump. It would still take 100000 / (5 * 6 * 24) = 13.8 days assuming they have near-100% of the hashing strength.

Satire my friend. I thought the LOL would make that evident.
wouldnt it make more sense to use the supercomputers to crack the encrypted romney info documents, which I assume are just encrypted images of goatse
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