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DOJ Hasn't Actually Found Silk Road Founder's Bitcoin Yet
Techdirt has an interesting followup on the arrest and indictment of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, in connection to which the FBI seized 26,000 or so Bitcoins. From the Techdirt piece: "However, in the criminal complaint against Ulbricht, it suggested that his commissions were in the range of $80 million -- or about 600,000 Bitcoins. You might notice the disconnect between the 26,000 Bitcoins seized and the supposed 600,000 Ulbright made. It now comes out that those 26,000 Bitcoins aren't even Ulbricht's. Instead, they're actually from Silk Road's users. In other words, these were Bitcoins stored with user accounts on Silk Road. Ulbricht's actual wallet is separate from that, and was apparently encrypted, so it would appear that the FBI does not have them, nor does it have any way of getting at them just yet. And given that some courts have argued you can't be forced to give up your encryption, as it's a 5th Amendment violation, those Bitcoins could remain hidden -- though, I could see the court ordering him to pay the dollar equivalent in restitution (though still not sure that would force him to decrypt the Bitcoins)." The article also notes that the FBI's own Bitcoin wallet has been identified, leading to some snarky micropayment messages headed their direction.
He might need some of that hoard to pay for his defense. I don't know that going cheap on this will be in his interest.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
This brings up an interesting thought. Since the total number of Bitcoins is fixed, and if these coins seem to now be irrecoverable, what happens to the currency when it disappears into encrypted black holes like this?
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
They'll get along fine with him in prison, and by the time he gets out, the Bitcoins will be a dead fantasy.
Now imagine that this Ulbright ends up in jail, or dies, the keys to this encrypted wallet are lost, and with it these 600,000 bitcoin are lost. I think this is a pretty realistic scenario.
Now what consequence would this be for the bitcoin as a currency, when a significant chunk of its coins are taken our of the equation? It's about 5% of the current total number of almost 12 million bitcoin in existence (and 3% of the theoretical maximum of 21 mln). And bitcoin can not be recreated or added to, like a regular currency.
Another thing of note, is that apparently a single bitcoin user managed to amass 5% of the total number of that currency in existence. Those numbers potentially give that person massive market power: dumping them all on the market in one go would cause the value of bitcoin to crash. Smaller quantities have that potential already.
You think all the roofies and heroin bought on silk road were consumed by the buyer?
in the criminal complaint against Ulbricht, it suggested that his commissions were in the range of $80 million -- or about 600,000 Bitcoins.
Yes, and given how badly he managed his assets, I doubt even a fraction of this will be recovered. He was not a very good businessman, his servers weren't very well secured... in fact the only thing in the "had lots of" category with this guy was ego. I mean really... "Dread Pirate Roberts"? And have you seen some of the things he wrote on this website of his? "I'll take as much of your money as I want because this is my ship. If you don't like it, fuck off." -- It's actually included in the criminal indictment against him, along with a laundry list of, shall we say, personality shortcomings of his leading to other elements of the criminal underground coming by to explain all meanings of the word "respect" to him, and then him blowing tons and tons of money either paying these people off, or trying (pathetically) to put hits out on them.
If there's one charge I could add to the indictment, it would be criminal stupidity.
It now comes out that those 26,000 Bitcoins aren't even Ulbricht's. Instead, they're actually from Silk Road's users. In other words, these were Bitcoins stored with user accounts on Silk Road.
Technically, they were for purchases pending. Silk road worked by letting you transfer coins into a silk road proxy account. It ran every submission through its "tumbler" to randomize which coins were actually used for which transactions. So what was seized was basically the day's take out of the register, as it were.
Ulbricht's actual wallet is separate from that, and was apparently encrypted, so it would appear that...
That he'll be charged as a terrorist and sequested in a room somewhere to be beaten with a metal pipe or waterboarded until he gives up the password. Has anyone heard from him lately?
And given that some courts have argued you can't be forced to give up your encryption, as it's a 5th Amendment violation...
We'll just create a new court especially to prosecute terrorists like him extrajudicially. Oh wait... we already did.
The article also notes that the FBI's own Bitcoin wallet has been identified, leading to some snarky micropayment messages headed their direction.
Taunting the police has historically worked out quite well for criminals. Dude, you aren't anonymous. You basically just signed your own search warrant.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
I got my package I ordered in mail today :-) at my mailbox etc drop box
I had made a small hash order and then saw news of the shut down, where I live there is 2 unsecured hotspots a library, and a coffee shop I can reach with my beam antenna which I used those for silk road purchases.
I gave up thinking I wouldn't get my order since the site shut down 3 days after my order.
But the funny thing is I got home opened the blank package inside was my hash and a small funny message printed and cut out saying "so long and thanks for all the fish..."
Hehe, there is another "silk road" type site that went up but is more of a classifieds Craigslist type setup I saw advertised on the "hackBB" tor forum which is still up.
No, that's not what people have been saying at all. No one is saying that the NSA can create SHA-1 collisions at will, or decrypt AES at will. Geeks on slashdot should be able to succeed in protecting data they really want hidden, such as a bitcoin wallet. It sounds like this guy did just that. No reasonable interpretation of the 5th amendment would allow the government to force him to give up his passwords.
The "Privacy Chicken Littles" have been complaining about the NSA tracking their locations, analyzing their social network connections, reading their emails, and generally sticking their electronic surveillance in every orifice. Personally, I'd have much less of a problem with this if they fessed up to what they're doing to spy on us. It's secret police that really scare me.
Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell
It's attempted murder, and both parties can be charged, if one party wasn't an agent. It doesn't matter if the person was harmed or not.
SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
Who said he shouldn't be punished? Of course he should be punished, and he will be. Restitution, however, is a financial payment from the criminal to the victim to compensate them for harm caused them during the commission of a crime. Nobody was actually harmed, therefore nobody is entitled to restitution.
If he has secured his private keys, then nobody can touch his Bitcoins. Not the NSA, FBI, CIA...
I've heard people say that the NSA can decrypt various things that are thought to be impossible (in reasonable time). Even if that were true, I doubt they are going show their hand and remove all doubt over something as trivial as this, so i think you are correct.
While he still has access to his bitcoins, they can argue that they should be allowed to force him to give up his keys. If he no longer has access to his bitcoins then they can't, so there is an advantage to him putting them somewhere where he can't get them. He'd need to find someone he can trust though...
Uh... come on folks, this is /. after all. When you [x] Post Anonymously, it's anonymous. Basically, when you click that anonymous button, it does a reverse traceroute and auto-roots every server and network device you've traveled across to get here. From there, it modifies server and device logs to substitutes your IP with the IP of [famous coffee shop] farthest from your actual location.
Only post anonymously when you're absolutely sure you need to. ;)
"I've heard people say that..."
I just read "I haven't been paying attention, and or don't understand, but I'm going to type anyway". We have been talking about it for months now, and we can draw a box around what is feasible.
They don't need the money, they just need to take it out of his ability to use. And the transaction history would be more valuable than the dollars. So there is little point trying, except as an academic exercise to explore plausibility.
If they could break it, we wouldn't have this story. Just the normal conspiracy types saying they can, and no denials. It is marginally possible that things have changed recently, but it makes no sense to assume so.
Unless you store sensitive data, in which case you always assume so.
which does not mean, that he unlocked any keystores on that notebook.
Public defenders are a good choice. I know that there's this Hollywood cliche that public defenders were C students that are worthless and don't know what they are doing but that isn't usually the case. Many of them are quite passionate about what they do, and good at it. Also they have a lot of trial experience, which is something that private attorneys often don't. Knowing the law and being good at trial are different things and public defenders get a lot of trial time. Plus they have experience with criminal law, since that's what they do. They don't spend time messing with estate planning or shit like they, they defend criminal cases.
So depending on the charge, the area you are in, etc, etc a public defender can actually be good, maybe even the best, option. They may have a better handle on the law and be better at trial than a private lawyer.
This is a drug-dealing-sack-of-shit middleman...
Who enabled consenting adults to buy their drug of choice in a relatively safe manner with buyer ratings to make sure they didn't get ripped off and pretty much got what they paid for.
I'm guessing you're a (social) authoritarian rather than libertarian.
it suggested that his commissions were in the range of $80 million -- or about 600,000 Bitcoins. You might notice the disconnect between the 26,000 Bitcoins seized and the supposed 600,000 Ulbright made.
Wouldn't the vast majority of his commissions have already been spent or at least laundered long ago? Why does everyone expect him to have left all of his income in his wallet?
If you send your money to someone in the US, paying them to commit a crime in the US, that money which is now part of a US crime is going to be seized in the US.
Some cases bring up interesting questions of jurisdiction. This case isn't one of them.
Did they try "swordfish"?!?
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Imagine finding a slip of paper from old grandaddee's in the attic, with the details and 1000 bitcoins. The word is "deflation".
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck