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0 pointslisper10y ago0 comments

> $81M was stolen the Bangladesh Bank via the SWIFT

Nearly all of which was later recovered.

> The IRS Seized $107,000

> DOJ's 'Operation Choke Point'

Those are political problems, not problems with the banking system. If the government decides to fuck with you, then you're fucked no matter what the banking system looks like.

> MasterCard Cuts Off Wikileaks

This is a real problem, and it a result of what is IMHO the main unaddressed flaw in our current system: banking is conflated with money transfer. Bitcoin does address this problem, but IMHO it doesn't do it very well. The risks and costs are too high.

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timbowhite10y ago· 4 in thread

> Nearly all of which was later recovered.

Citation needed.

> Those are political problems, not problems with the banking system. If the government decides to fuck with you, then you're fucked no matter what the banking system looks like.

I disagree. Has any government shut down a Bitcoin address for "structuring", or publishing pornography?

lisperOP10y ago

> Citation needed.

Sorry, $951M was stolen. All but $81M was recovered.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nyfed-bangladesh-malwa...

But let's put this in perspective. MtGox lost BTC600k. As a fraction of the primary money supply, that loss was comparable to a USD loss of about $35 billion (M0=$1.2 trillion). So even before most of the Bangladesh money was recovered it was only 1/30th the size of the MtGox loss. And MtGox wasn't even a theft, it was simple mismanagement. Imagine the attacks people would start to mount if they could net the equivalent of $35 billion (or more) risk-free.

timbowhite10y ago

I think you're conflating Bitcoin (the system) with Bitcoin opsec skills.

Yes, I agree: Bitcoin is probably easier to steal from people who don't know what they're doing. (And yes there is probably is smaller chance of the thief being caught).

But as of now, properly secured Bitcoin can't be stolen by any criminal, government, or bank. Even if they have physical access to the owner's shit!

The same cannot be said for any modern national/fiat electronic monetary system.

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pjc5010y ago

Ross Ulbricht got shut down pretty hard.

timbowhite10y ago

Sorry I guess I wasn't specific enough. I was referring to the cryptography that makes bitcoins untouchable to anyone except the person with the private key... not some guy's crappy opsec.

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