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Topic: The US Govt "seizing" their way to control of BTC (Read 1673 times)

donator
Activity: 1468
Merit: 1052
I outlived my lifetime membership:)
The worst thing they could do is hold them in uncertainty...oh, wait, that's the plan.

As has been pointed out elsewhere, it is hard to estimate supply when inaccessible bitcoins look identical to accessible ones. For example, if an address has had 1M bitcoins in it without a transaction spent in 3 years....is the private key lost or just part of a savings plan?
legendary
Activity: 3080
Merit: 1688
lose: unfind ... loose: untight
They seized 700,000 bitcoins from the Ponzi Scheme guy:  $112 Million in Bitcoins
Citation? Thanks.
They probably didn't seize many, if any at all, he collected about 70k and paid out about 50k, he also lost a lot day-trading
http://rt.com/usa/bitcoin-sec-shavers-texas-231/

That's what I thought. If they seized 700K from Shavers, that would make me a happy man. As a disillusioned 'investor' in his scam, if there was a significant seizure, I would expect an eventual return of some proportion of my losses.
legendary
Activity: 1652
Merit: 1016
I'm really annoyed that at this point, the US Government is probably the single biggest holder of bitcoins in the world. Because they feel it's their right to steal all the money involved in every illegal operation.

LOL  Cheesy

Perhaps it would be wise to avoid setting up any 'illegal operations' then.
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
Let's hope they're stupid enough to liquidate it...

Lets hope people are not stupid enough to setup illegal websites or use their Bitcoins to purchase illegal goods.
legendary
Activity: 966
Merit: 1001
Energy is Wealth
They seized 700,000 bitcoins from the Ponzi Scheme guy:  $112 Million in Bitcoins

Citation? Thanks.
They probably didn't seize many, if any at all, he collected about 70k and paid out about 50k, he also lost a lot day-trading
http://rt.com/usa/bitcoin-sec-shavers-texas-231/
legendary
Activity: 3080
Merit: 1688
lose: unfind ... loose: untight
They seized 700,000 bitcoins from the Ponzi Scheme guy:  $112 Million in Bitcoins

Citation? Thanks.
hero member
Activity: 642
Merit: 500
Evolution is the only way to survive
They initially seized 26,000 bitcoins from Silk Road:  $4.16 Million in Bitcoins

They also have Silk Road guys wallet but haven't accessed it yet:  $90 Million in Bitcoins

They seized 700,000 bitcoins from the Ponzi Scheme guy:  $112 Million in Bitcoins

So conservatively, the US Government has stolen and is holding nearly $207 Million in Bitcoins right now.

At $160 per coin they're holding about 1.3 Million BTC.

All it takes is one person with an IQ over twelve to tell them to "Hold on to it because it'll probably go up in value" .... They're not dumb.
Do they control privatekey ? I doubt  Huh
full member
Activity: 256
Merit: 100
How did they rename their address "Silk Road Seized Coins" in the blockchain?
hero member
Activity: 924
Merit: 1001
They initially seized 26,000 bitcoins from Silk Road:  $4.16 Million in Bitcoins

They also have Silk Road guys wallet but haven't accessed it yet:  $90 Million in Bitcoins

They seized 700,000 bitcoins from the Ponzi Scheme guy:  $112 Million in Bitcoins

So conservatively, the US Government has stolen and is holding nearly $207 Million in Bitcoins right now.

At $160 per coin they're holding about 1.3 Million BTC.

All it takes is one person with an IQ over twelve to tell them to "Hold on to it because it'll probably go up in value" .... They're not dumb.
hero member
Activity: 826
Merit: 508
Maybe they'll hold them and manipulate the market.  Smiley

More likely, I think, they will just auction off the coins they have access to -- and some lucky people will get an excellent entry price as a result. Who knows how many coins they have access to, though?
legendary
Activity: 966
Merit: 1001
Energy is Wealth
The strategy they employ is simple, keep seizing it, any amount at every bust. Since there is a limited number of them its a mathematical certainty that at some time they will be the largest holder. Also this, gov. in incognito right from the word go.
As for the keys, if you have the choice doing half the time and give up the key or full time, most would choose the first. Handing over the wallet would be considered part of the rehabilitation process. What good is x amount of coins with no access to it and face being buried alive in a concrete room.
member
Activity: 113
Merit: 10
It makes me extremely uncomfortable that they have potential access to $85 million worth of bitcoins thanks to the dude at silk Road.


Im not sure they actually have the private keys to control the coins.
If they do, these coins shoud be exchanged to USD after their lawsuit succeed  Smiley
hero member
Activity: 658
Merit: 500
If .gov does have those coins, with their record they will just loose them.  So this is good news for everyone else.


Yup, these would be spend in a blink of a eye, you would not even recognise this small amount helped somewhere
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
Johnny Bitcoinseed
If .gov does have those coins, with their record they will just loose them.  So this is good news for everyone else.
hero member
Activity: 826
Merit: 508
How much does Satoshi have?  Smiley

Yeah, it's a bit troubling. Do we know that they have access to DPR's wallets, though, and not just the user/escrow wallets? Are we sure that they actually have access to 600k bitcoins (or whatever the number is), or is that wild speculation as well?
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
If they liquidated it would that mean the government would have to recognize bitcoin as an asset/currency?
legendary
Activity: 1008
Merit: 1001
Let the chips fall where they may.
You aren't keep up! The Chinese Government is the largest holder of Bitcoins.  Cool

OK, wild speculation.
hero member
Activity: 924
Merit: 1001
It makes me extremely uncomfortable that they have potential access to $85 million worth of bitcoins thanks to the dude at silk Road. Not to mention the Ponzi scheme guy and all the bitcoin they confiscated from him. Why don't they just stockpile it now, and when it's worth $10,000 per coin, the US government will still be the wealthiest nation in the world.

I'm really annoyed that at this point, the US Government is probably the single biggest holder of bitcoins in the world. Because they feel it's their right to steal all the money involved in every illegal operation. It's not like they're seizing it so they can return it to its rightful owners. They just take it and stuff it in their fucking pockets. Real fucking ethical. Isn't the government holding majority of bitcoins the exact opposite of what we want to happen?

Let's hope they're stupid enough to liquidate it...
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