Silk Road (Online Black Market Bazaar) Founder Ross Ulbricht Convicted Due to Bitcoin Tracking

[LAGC]

Despite all the hype, Bitcoin isn't anonymous. It's electronic cash. And like anything digital, it leaves a trail of bits.

The latest example? The guilty verdict in the trial of Ross Ulbricht, the kingpin behind the online drug bazaar Silk Road.

His attorney took a stunningly odd approach to his defense: Yes, Ulbricht ran the site. Yes, those millions of dollars in bitcoins are his. But he stopped running Silk Road a long time ago.

Here's why that logic didn't work: Federal prosecutors showed that millions of dollars in Bitcoin payments were traced from Silk Road back to Ulbricht's personal laptop -- until just before his arrest.

How was that possible? Here's a mini crash course in Bitcoin.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/tech...iid=SF_T_River

Say hello to 15+ years in Federal prison, moron.

All these idiots who ever used Bitcoin thinking it was an anonymous currency to buy illegal drugs, guns, and what have you, are in for a rude awakening as the Feds continue to trace each and every illicit transaction back to original buyer, thanks to the "blockchain" -- Bitcoin's Achilles' heel.

As that article pointed out: Some Bitcoin users have even taken to calling them "prosecution futures."

We need a real, anonymous cryptocurrency. Because Bitcoin is bunk.

[sevlex]

We suspected as much almost two years ago....

http://www.gunsnet.net/showthread.ph...hlight=bitcoin

Your anonymous currency is already here - cash. Of course, dot gov will strive to outlaw its use in favor of trackable and seizable digital currency.

[5.56NATO]

Gold and silver can be quite anonymous.