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Bitcoin Used For the Narcotics Trade

Posted by samzenpus on from the this-is-your-brain-on-virtual-currency dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A story on Aljazeera tells how bitcoin is being used to pay for cocaine, marijuana and other drugs at various eBay style drug websites. From the article: 'Two US senators are asking federal authorities to crack down on an online narcotics market that accepts "virtual" currency. The "Dark Web," an anonymous and secretive online community that trades in heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines among other drugs, has been operating unhindered for months.' Who said bitcoin is not used in the real world?"

4 of 535 comments (clear)

  1. It's not just Bitcoin. by FooAtWFU · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Most of these alternative-currencies (Bitcoin, e-gold, etc) find themselves on the shady side of things pretty quickly - especially money-laundering and the like. This is not at all surprising, really.

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    1. Re:It's not just Bitcoin. by TheLink · · Score: 1, Interesting

      As you already know not all drugs are the same, so lumping all the illegal drugs together is silly. Drugs certainly do kill people.

      Marijuana might be relatively safe[1], but many other recreational drugs are not.

      There are good reasons why many legal drugs require prescriptions.

      [1] And even then it'll likely be not as safe once legalized since
      1) mass farms would grow them using phosphate fertilizers and so they'd have more polonium in them than the "organic" sort. Having ash containing polonium stuck in your lungs is bad for you. Maybe marijuana might not concentrate polonium as much as tobacco, but who wants to find out the hard way? ;)

      2) Philip Morris et all will include their additives...
      http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-07/ohs-orp072403.php

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    2. Re:It's not just Bitcoin. by babblefrog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      But are there more messed up families due to drugs than there are due to drug prohibition? I doubt it.

  2. The also used cash to do this for many years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Your government is responsible for aiding this trade!
     
    I think we are going to see a lot of anti bitcoin smokescreen stories pushed down the pipe line at us. Until they tax bitcoin. Then you'll see "Baby heart transplant paid for with bitcoin" stories in the news.