Bitcoin Crypto & Buying Real Estate - Not As Safe As You Think

Specialist · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 891 votes

Quote from @Account Closed:

Well, if you do real estate correctly, it's "pretty safe" But, the IRS found the guy who stole the Crypto.

The point is, if you think having Crypto is "anonymous" you're kidding yourself. Personally, I don't believe in Crypto but then I'm a troglodyte that pays my taxes. And the gov't has better tracking capabilities than you can imagine.

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DOJ grabs $3.36B in bitcoin hidden in popcorn tin of Silk Road thief

https://www.washingtonexaminer...

The Department of Justice announced it seized more than $3 billion worth of bitcoin from a man who stole it from the dark web’s Silk Road more than a decade ago.

Federal agents discovered 50,491 bitcoin on drives hidden inside a popcorn tin and an underground safe while conducting a search warrant at the house of James Zhong of Georgia in November of last year. It was the second-largest cryptocurrency seizure by the DOJ.

On Friday, Zhong, 32, pleaded guilty to scamming the Silk Road, a now-defunct website located on the dark web where users could purchase illicit goods and services using bitcoin, in September 2012.

AGENCY HEADS CALL FOR LEGISLATION GRANTING GREATER AUTHORITY TO REGULATE CRYPTO

He was able to scam Silk Road out of the cryptocurrency, which was used as currency on the site, by depositing bitcoin into multiple fraud accounts registered with the marketplace and then triggering more than 100 withdrawal transactions in quick succession in order to trick Silk Road’s withdrawal-processing system into releasing tens of thousands of bitcoins, according to the DOJ.

“Mr. Zhong executed a sophisticated scheme designed to steal bitcoin from the notorious Silk Road Marketplace. Once he was successful in his heist, he attempted to hide his spoils through a series of complex transactions which he hoped would be enhanced as he hid behind the mystery of the ‘darknet,’” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher.

Silk Road was shut down in October 2013 after the FBI arrested founder Ross Ulbricht, who was later found guilty in a jury trial and sentenced to life in prison.

In addition to seizing the bitcoin, federal agents also seized $661,900 in U.S. currency from Zhong’s house and silver and gold bars.

Zhong pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

“For almost ten years, the whereabouts of this massive chunk of missing Bitcoin had ballooned into an over $3.3 billion mystery,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement. “Thanks to state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracing and good old-fashioned police work, law enforcement located and recovered this impressive cache of crime proceeds.”

This is crazy news

There is future in Crypto..

1 Reply

Account Closed

Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2022 · 184 posts · 78 votes

3y

I'm sorry but there is no way to track who owns what Bitcoin. Those who do not 'believe' (understand) how cryptos, and most importantly, Bitcoin, work, will end up being forced to adopt it at some point. The only thing is, they don't know it yet and they don't realize that when they finally want to buy it, it will be too expensive and no one will want to sell it. Especially not me.

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V.G JasonPro Member

Investor · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Account Closed:

I'm sorry but there is no way to track who owns what Bitcoin. Those who do not 'believe' (understand) how cryptos, and most importantly, Bitcoin, work, will end up being forced to adopt it at some point. The only thing is, they don't know it yet and they don't realize that when they finally want to buy it, it will be too expensive and no one will want to sell it. Especially not me.

I'm not sure you understand what the blockchain is. The blockchain is literally a public ledger, when you open up a wallet and transfer crypto from a centralized exchange that exchange can pass that information to any authority it grants. If you went on coinbase, bought $300 worth of BTC, sent it your ledger, and then bought something illegal with that through your ledger. That address will tail it back. It's all a ledger, you can easily coordinate and plot the dots if you so wish so and have the authority too. It's public, yet anonymous to a degree. It was actually a transformational technology meant in that design.

And to the original post, bitcoin is perfectly safe too. If you just keep decentralized assets off centralized exchanges. Even regulated, centralized exchanges won't "save" your bitcoin in an instance if something rogue happens(cyber theft or hack). So that part of advancement is moot.

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Account Closed

Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2022 · 184 posts · 78 votes

3y

So blockchain transactions are recorded from anonymous wallet addresses. You are describing on-exchange transactions, and yes, these are traceable.

This is not a function of blockchain, this is a function of centralized exchanges. What I am referring to is the storage of coins into a hard wallet. For example, I purchase my coins on Coinbase and then transfer them to my Ledger wallet. There is no identity associated with my Ledger wallet, only my 21-phrase seed code.

So yes, purchases on centralized exchanges are traceable. No, storage and transactions to cold storage wallets are not traceable back to someone. If a criminal sent me coins from a wallet with an identity tied to it, the sender would be traceable, but because there is only my seed phrase as the conceptual 'owner' of my cold wallet, I, the recipient, am not traceable.

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V.G JasonPro Member

Investor · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Account Closed:

So blockchain transactions are recorded from anonymous wallet addresses. You are describing on-exchange transactions, and yes, these are traceable.

This is not a function of blockchain, this is a function of centralized exchanges. What I am referring to is the storage of coins into a hard wallet. For example, I purchase my coins on Coinbase and then transfer them to my Ledger wallet. There is no identity associated with my Ledger wallet, only my 21-phrase seed code.

So yes, purchases on centralized exchanges are traceable. No, storage and transactions to cold storage wallets are not traceable back to someone. If a criminal sent me coins from a wallet with an identity tied to it, the sender would be traceable, but because there is only my seed phrase as the conceptual 'owner' of my cold wallet, I, the recipient, am not traceable.

The blockchain transaction just exposed the anonymous wallet indirectly. How do you think they are finding criminals on it?

If you bought on Coinbase and transferred to an anonymous wallet, all they have to do is come to you directly. Once they come to you, depending on how much they have against you, they can seize your stuff. If you sent it to an anonymous wallet that's not you, they'll get that information from you. It's not hard, they can find your emails, your messages on forums, etc., to figure out what you just did and where it was sent. It's not directly or indirectly anonymous at all.

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Account Closed

Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2022 · 184 posts · 78 votes

3y

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Quote from @Account Closed:

So blockchain transactions are recorded from anonymous wallet addresses. You are describing on-exchange transactions, and yes, these are traceable.

This is not a function of blockchain, this is a function of centralized exchanges. What I am referring to is the storage of coins into a hard wallet. For example, I purchase my coins on Coinbase and then transfer them to my Ledger wallet. There is no identity associated with my Ledger wallet, only my 21-phrase seed code.

So yes, purchases on centralized exchanges are traceable. No, storage and transactions to cold storage wallets are not traceable back to someone. If a criminal sent me coins from a wallet with an identity tied to it, the sender would be traceable, but because there is only my seed phrase as the conceptual 'owner' of my cold wallet, I, the recipient, am not traceable.

The blockchain transaction just exposed the anonymous wallet indirectly. How do you think they are finding criminals on it?

If you bought on Coinbase and transferred to an anonymous wallet, all they have to do is come to you directly. Once they come to you, depending on how much they have against you, they can seize your stuff. If you sent it to an anonymous wallet that's not you, they'll get that information from you. It's not hard, they can find your emails, your messages on forums, etc., to figure out what you just did and where it was sent. It's not directly or indirectly anonymous at all.

Look into Ledger.

0 Reply

V.G JasonPro Member

Investor · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Quote from @Account Closed:

So blockchain transactions are recorded from anonymous wallet addresses. You are describing on-exchange transactions, and yes, these are traceable.

This is not a function of blockchain, this is a function of centralized exchanges. What I am referring to is the storage of coins into a hard wallet. For example, I purchase my coins on Coinbase and then transfer them to my Ledger wallet. There is no identity associated with my Ledger wallet, only my 21-phrase seed code.

So yes, purchases on centralized exchanges are traceable. No, storage and transactions to cold storage wallets are not traceable back to someone. If a criminal sent me coins from a wallet with an identity tied to it, the sender would be traceable, but because there is only my seed phrase as the conceptual 'owner' of my cold wallet, I, the recipient, am not traceable.

The blockchain transaction just exposed the anonymous wallet indirectly. How do you think they are finding criminals on it?

If you bought on Coinbase and transferred to an anonymous wallet, all they have to do is come to you directly. Once they come to you, depending on how much they have against you, they can seize your stuff. If you sent it to an anonymous wallet that's not you, they'll get that information from you. It's not hard, they can find your emails, your messages on forums, etc., to figure out what you just did and where it was sent. It's not directly or indirectly anonymous at all.

Look into Ledger.

I already know what Ledger is, my point went completely beside you.

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Bitcoin Crypto & Buying Real Estate - Not As Safe As You Think

Bitcoin Crypto & Buying Real Estate - Not As Safe As You Think

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