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from the convert-it-to-libra-coin-if-course dept.
The bitcoin scam worked — almost too well. In 2012, back when almost no one had heard of the digital coin, he’d started modestly, asking people he found on the dark web for $200 or $300 worth of bitcoin as a way to test out his investment scheme. He told them he could exploit the then huge price differences between various bitcoin exchanges and promised huge rewards. But once they sent the funds, he vanished into the ether to find his next stooge.
There was a certain genius criminal irony to it: He would hype an untraceable anonymous digital currency, then get paid in it.
[...] But he had a problem. It was getting harder to turn the most overhyped currency since the tulip into actual cash.
[...] All of this means that people like our guy who are very rich on paper (or, more accurately, on the blockchain) must devise highly complex methods to convert their ill-gotten gains, or risk losing quite a bit of value, said Tom Robinson, co-founder of the blockchain analytics company Elliptic. “Funds from illicit activities are just lying dormant, and they are waiting to find effective means of cashing out,” he said.
Yet if we know anything about criminals, it’s that they’re resourceful. As financial institutions and regulators the world over grapple with bitcoin’s adaptation to mainstream use, some of these criminals have devised ingenious hacks for converting their money; still others are turning to alternative coins as they seek greater privacy for their transactions and to stay ahead of the law.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by aristarchus on Tuesday August 20 2019, @07:27AM (4 children)
Oh, and
You do realize that the Trump referred to is not our defunct realDonaldTrump soylentil of late fame and ignomy? Anyone else would have plenty of opportunity, and probably even an incentive, to defend themselves in the comments, were any such submission accepted.
(Score: 3, Offtopic) by janrinok on Tuesday August 20 2019, @07:57AM (3 children)
You have mentioned others, as well you know, including myself. Don't try to paint yourself as misunderstood. Read the submission guidelines and follow them.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday August 20 2019, @06:24PM (2 children)
Moderating my reply as 'Off-Topic' is a childish thing to do. It answers your claim that you were referring to Trump and not rDT - I pointed out that that you have commented about other members of this community in your submissions in a derogatory fashion. This is not your personal site for publishing your political views or your opinions of other community members. Post a decent submission.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Tuesday August 20 2019, @07:17PM (1 child)
Well, the topic *is* about criminals and bitcoin.
This thread has drifted far off topic long before we ended up here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:34PM
Agreed. To quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "GET ON WITH IT!"