“This is the story of the revelation in late 2013 that Bitcoin was, in fact, the opposite of untraceable—that its blockchain would actually allow researchers, tech companies, and law enforcement to trace and identify users with even more transparency than the existing financial system.”

  • prole
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    arrow-down
    15
    ·
    10 months ago

    Yeah, but retrieving actual useful currency from that wallet becomes nearly impossible. At that point, the only way, really, is peer-to-peer transaction. And even then, it seems fraught.

    • maness300@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      21
      ·
      10 months ago

      Yeah, but retrieving actual useful currency from that wallet becomes nearly impossible.

      Then how do people set up drug empires built around it?

      Use your brains.

      • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        21
        arrow-down
        17
        ·
        10 months ago

        The same way they do everywhere else… Complex webs of money laundering, but that’s not cheap, or easy.

        • maness300@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          16
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          Or nearly impossible, as evidenced by the litany of small-time vendors who have been operating for years.

          On a side note, where are you getting this information from?

          • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            13
            arrow-down
            16
            ·
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            You said drug empires, not guy selling 8 balls and 10 packs on a darknet market.

            I’m not going to provide sourcing for my throw away comment. Take it, or leave it, doesn’t really matter to me.

            • maness300@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              11
              arrow-down
              15
              ·
              edit-2
              10 months ago

              You said drug empires, not guy selling 8 balls and 10 packs on a darknet market.

              Yeah, because those are the ones LE focuses on. So we can agree that players both big and small are able to cash out on cryptocurrency and your initial point is wrong.

              I’m not going to provide sourcing

              Lol, okay. You can just admit you don’t have one.

              • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                11
                arrow-down
                13
                ·
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                You got me, I’m just making this shit up. I have never even heard of any of the publicly available blockchain forensics databases, or reviewed any of the ample examples of reporting and analysis on the subject.

                If this was some obtuse or obscure subject, I’d take the time to cite sources, but it’s not, it’s extremely well covered, so stop being a lazy twat and look for yourself.

                • maness300@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  12
                  arrow-down
                  11
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  I have never even heard of any of the publicly available blockchain forensics databases, or reviewed any of the ample examples of reporting and analysis on the subject.

                  That’s not what I asked about and you know it.

                  I asked how you know about vendor money laundering techniques, which you failed to provide a source for.

                  it’s extremely well covered

                  If that’s the case, then you should be able to easily provide a source instead of flailing around like you’re doing now.

                  so stop being a lazy twat and look for yourself.

                  You made the claim. You provide the source or you admit you’re making stuff up.

                  • pandapoo
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    10 months ago

                    Are you actually asking someone to prove that large darknet market drug dealers use money laundering to safely access their profits?

                    It sounds like what you really want is someone to explain to you how it’s done successfully…if you’re that desperate to learn, take it to Dread and off Lemmy.