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Craig Wright’s $100B Theft Claim – BTC and BCH Used His Database Without Permission

15/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

The infamous Craig Wright, the Australian native who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, has published a blog post that explains he owns “the full rights to the Bitcoin registry” and developers do not have the right to change the protocol’s underlying database. Wright’s recent blog post makes it seem like “legal redress” is coming to a few specific blockchain projects in 2020. Moreover, a photograph from a Slack channel shows Wright claiming that BTC and BCH broke contractual rights and they “are in effect, a theft of $100 billion plus USD.”

Also Read: Craig Wright’s ‘Bonded Courier’ Allegedly an Attorney Who Can’t Communicate

Self-Proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto Claims Developers Forked Bitcoin’s Underlying Database Without Authority

On February 13, Craig Wright published a blog post on his website called “Forking and Passing Off…” In the post, Wright goes into great detail about forking a software branch and codebase that derived from Bitcoin’s original code. According to Wright, digital assets like LTC and ETH are considered “‘forked’ codebases, derived from Bitcoin.” “Corecoin, BTC, differs in the sense that it both copied the database and sought to pass off the new system as the old or original,” Wright emphasized.

Wright then explained his opinion of how the open-source MIT license works and he thinks that developers do not understand how the system works. For instance, Wright mentions: “Linux and Openoffice are each open-source products. If I was to write a novel using Linux as the operating system and Openoffice as the editing platform, the software remains open-source, but the product of my work does not.” With Bitcoin, Wright claims he owns all the rights to the original codebase.

“As the sole creator of Bitcoin, I own full rights to the Bitcoin registry,” Wright asserted. “People can fork my software and make alternative versions. But, they have no rights to change the protocol using the underlying database.” Wright continued:

I was explicit when I said so by putting forward reasons not to fork the database. Yet, both Bitcoin Core (Core) and Bitcoin ABC (ABC), global partnerships under law, have sought to use my database without authority.

Screenshot of Wright Claims a Theft of $100 Billion

The self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor then detailed that rather than seeking licenses, these development teams “sought to attack my character and impugned me.” So Wright says he’s taking action and “control” over his system. “Those involved with the copied systems that are passing themselves off as Bitcoin, namely BTC or Corecoin and BCH or Bcash, are hereby put on notice — Please trust me when I say that I’m far nicer before the lawyers get involved,” Wright stated. In addition to Wright’s recent blog post about his alleged ownership of the Bitcoin registry, a screenshot of Wright in a Slack chatroom allegedly shows him saying “BTC and BCH are not forks. They are a breach of contractual rights to the database.” Wright’s statement in the screenshot also states:

They are in effect, a theft of $100 billion plus USD.

Kleiman Lawsuit Allegedly Littered With Thousands of Redacted Documents

Wright has also been dealing with the Kleiman lawsuit and the plaintiffs have accused him of obfuscating thousands of documents. Kleiman’s legal team said that Wright claimed attorney-client privilege over 11,000 documents and also reported that the bonded courier is a lawyer who cannot share any information with the court. In the most recent court filing, Wright insisted that he is “both exercising a right and fulfilling an obligation,” by not sharing the thousands of documents with the plaintiff. “Plaintiffs make this remarkable demand on the grounds that a dissolved corporation has no such privilege,” Wright’s defense team noted. “This request is contrary to both Florida law and Australian law, both of which hold that a corporation’s privilege is not extinguished upon a corporation’s dissolution. The privilege firmly holds its ground and transfers to the successors or similar representatives.” The filing from the law firm Andres Rivero further detailed:

Plaintiffs’ reliance on the federal privilege is misconceived. This is a diversity action and the attorney-client privilege is governed by state law. Plaintiffs erroneously proclaim that the attorney-client communications are not privileged unless the privilege is “claimed.” Not surprisingly, they offer no support for that argument.

Wright Is Still Unable to Prove the Validity of the Satoshi Claim to the Greater Cryptocurrency Community

Despite the recent blog post and the statement about BTC and BCH being “a theft of $100 billion plus USD,” his latest argument has been downright comical to the greater cryptocurrency community. From the BBC interviews to the cover of GQ, Wright has been claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto for years now, and more recently has been far more brazen about his claim. Wright and his firm Nchain have acquired a great number of blockchain patents too, which makes people believe the firm might use them to “patent troll.”

To this very day, however, a great number of cryptography experts and well known bitcoiners have debunked every claim he’s presented and no matter what Wright presents, they still believe he’s pulling a ‘long con.’ As many people have said in the past, if Wright was Satoshi he could easily prove so by simply signing a message or moving some older coins. Even Star Trek star William Shatner said it should be easy for Wright to prove he’s Satoshi. After years of claims and lawsuits, Wright still hasn’t swayed the masses, minus the Bitcoin SV (BSV) fans who wholeheartedly believe him.

What do you think about Craig Wright’s claims about owning the Bitcoin registry and BTC and BCH using his database without authority? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Fair Use, Wiki Commons, and Pixabay.

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IOTA Network Still Down: How the Next Bitcoin Killer Screeched to a Halt

14/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

On February 13, the IOTA network came to a screeching halt and the IOTA Foundation reports that $1.6 million worth of the native currency was stolen. The following day, the IOTA network status page still shows the mainnet is “not operational” and the development team has found an “exploit related to the Trinity Wallet.”

Also Read: IOTA, EOS, XLM, ADA – 4 ‘Bitcoin Contenders’ With Zero Use Cases and Barely Any Infrastructure

IOTA Trinity Wallet Compromised for $1.6M

The IOTA network is a hot topic within the cryptocurrency community right now, with people discussing the network’s recent outage. At the time of publication, IOTA’s network status page says “Mainnet (1341599), Not operational, TPS: 0.6500.” Alongside this message are multiple status updates from the core development team. At first, the team heard several reports of theft and decided to warn people using Discord and Twitter.

The developers also said: “As a precaution, we ask you to keep your Trinity wallet closed for now.” Following the initial investigation, IOTA programmers decided to turn off the “coordinator to make sure no further theft can occur until we find out the root cause of these thefts.” Since the initial announcements, the topic has been trending among the crypto community across social media. The team also warned the community on Twitter and explained that law enforcement were involved. The official IOTA Twitter account stated:

Currently, IOTA is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to investigate a coordinated attack, resulting in stolen funds. To protect users, we have paused the coordinator and advise users not to open Trinity until further notice.

IOTA Network Still Down: How the Next Bitcoin Killer Screeched to a Halt — Even after the two warning tweets from the IOTA Twitter account, the page still has a pinned tweet on its profile showcasing the introduction of the Trinity Wallet.

Despite this message, the Twitter account still has a pinned Twitter post that explains the Trinity wallet is “secure.” After the warning tweet and update message that disclosed the team shut off the IOTA Coordinator, many people on Twitter asked what they meant by the phrase “paused the Coordinator?” Commentator Eric Wall discussed the IOTA fiasco on Twitter where he’s well known for calling out the vulnerabilities tied to the IOTA network. Wall stated:

A question that keeps me up at night: Is it possible to create a rubbish coin based on advanced bullshit, build a community of misguided fans nevertheless, run it centralized for 5 yrs, hard fork-copy the design of a real working project, keep the community and become a success?

This is very bad news, what’s going to happen to all the Bosch control system that IOTA is powering ! Think of all the Volkswagon vehicles that can no longer operate because the entire network is shut down.

This is worse than Y2k. I’m going into my bunker to prep for doomsday. https://t.co/DK4VB3Oipv

— Kay Kurokawa (@kaykurokawa) February 13, 2020

‘Refrain from Questioning Community Moderators – IOTA Team Is Developing a Mitigation Strategy’

IOTA developers noted in another update that the IOTA Foundation has been working around the clock to investigate the matter. “Most evidence is pointing towards seed theft, cause still unknown and under investigation,” the IOTA status page noted. “Victims (around 10 that identified with the IOTA Foundation so far) all seem to have recently used Trinity,” the developers added.

Iota network paused. LMAO. THEY PAUSED IT. WHAT IS THIS A VIDEOGAME? LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

— Shillhouse (@shillycrypto) February 13, 2020

On February 14, the IOTA team gave the public another update which said they had found the exploit and are “now working on resolving the issue.” IOTA engineers insisted that the exploit was definitely related to the Trinity wallet and stressed “the IOTA core protocol is – as already communicated before – not breached.” IOTA team members further disclosed:

We know that you would like to understand more details, but ask you to refrain from questions towards the community moderators due to the parallel ongoing coaction with law enforcement. The teams are currently developing a mitigation strategy. We will share all details about the exploit in due time and (of course) publish a complete incident analysis as well.

The discussion regarding IOTA’s lack of decentralization is at the heart of the conversations on social media. The leadership at IOTA seems to be extremely fragile according to a recent blog post and the chain stopped working for 15 hours during the last week of December 2019 as well. Despite all the craziness surrounding the IOTA project, the market has remained the 21st largest blockchain by market capitalization. IOTA has gained 1% this week despite the paused Coordinator.

What do you think about the issues with IOTA during the last 24 hours? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, Fair Use, and the IOTA Status Page.

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BCH Latam: Creating a Viral Feedback Loop for Mass Adoption With Bitcoin Cash

14/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

From Dash to Bitcoin Cash - George Donnelly Discusses the BCH Latam Initiative

This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with George Donnelly from the BCH Latam initiative about his plan to help the people of Latin America “achieve greater individual liberty and prosperity.” Donnelly explained the BCH Latam initiative aims to generate greater financial inclusion through mass adoption systems and the organization’s gamified adoption app will help with this goal.

Also Read: 3 Cents per kWh – Central Asia’s Cheap Electricity Entices Chinese Bitcoin Miners

From Dash to Bitcoin Cash: George Donnelly Discusses the BCH Latam Initiative

George Donnelly is a libertarian entrepreneur who recently worked with the Dash Latin America (Dash Latam) effort, but has since moved his focus over to bitcoin cash (BCH). Not too long after, Donnelly officially launched BCH Latam and hopes to help spread liberty and economic freedom to residents living in Latin America. Donnelly started crowdfunding the initiative to help further the project’s goals and he used the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) to create PAN token. PAN will be used to help bolster adoption, create gamification and leverage SLP attributes like dividends as well. Donnelly told our newsdesk that the team has sold 1% so far and aim to give the PAN token life by applying merchant acceptance for goods and services. While chatting with news.Bitcoin.com, the BCH proponent also discussed his views about the current state of Bitcoin Cash.

BCH Latam: Creating a Viral Feedback Loop for Mass Adoption With Bitcoin Cash — George Donnelly launched the BCH Latam Initiative.

Bitcoin.com (BC): Can you tell our readers how you got into spreading cryptocurrency adoption?

George Donnelly (GD): As a libertarian activist during the Ron Paul years, I couldn’t help but discover Bitcoin. And understanding Bitcoin meant I couldn’t help but start using it and inviting others to use it. With the 2017 price run-up, it seemed like a good time to finally work on mass adoption. So, in early 2018 I started affiliating merchants for Dash in Medellín, Colombia, my home now for nearly 20 years.

BC: You once worked with the Dash community. Can you explain why you left the Dash community and have been promoting bitcoin cash recently?

GD: Bitcoin Cash has more promising conditions that should enable us to achieve our goals, which include onboarding 1 billion new daily crypto users by 2030 and solving the inflows challenge. Bitcoin Cash has a larger community with a welcoming and positive attitude that is focused on market-based growth and Bitcoin as P2P electronic cash.

Dash has abandoned its Latin America and digital cash strategies and is now pursuing a venture capital and dapps strategy.

BC: Can you tell us about the BCH Latm initiative?

GD: We created BCH Latam in order to serve the people of Latin America in their efforts to achieve greater individual liberty and prosperity. We aim to generate greater financial inclusion through self-sustaining BCH adoption systems with a strong focus on the informal economy. The informal economy in Latin America includes 150 million working people, 53% of jobs and one-third of regional GDP. Informal economy entrepreneurs are excluded from economic growth by excessive government bureaucracy, taxes, and fees. Business activities that we take for granted, such as formal asset registration, incorporation, credit, and banking, are not readily available to the informal economy.

BCH Latam aims to build a thriving Bitcoin Cash ecosystem in Latin America with a bowling pin strategy of merchant adoption, remittances, B2B buying, international trade and more. We’ve honed our plan with more than two years of research and fieldwork in Latin America, where we have team members in six nations plus Spain. Our gamified adoption app will enable indie BCH adoption workers to earn their way into Bitcoin Cash by completing verifiable tasks that add concrete value to the Bitcoin Cash network. Gamified adoption is a viral feedback-loop system to kickstart BCH adoption globally in parallel at a low cost.

BCH Latam is in this to kickstart the Bitcoin Cash commons in Latin America, provide superior value to the developing world through BCH and eventually make Bitcoin Cash the international currency of Latin America. We aim to leverage our results to create a groundswell of buzz for Bitcoin Cash across the globe.

BC: What prompted the idea to start crowdfunding and create a video presentation?

GD: Remittances are a key early bowling pin for us, but it is an industry that requires a multi-location approach and a serious marketing and development plan. There is no formal funding mechanism for Bitcoin Cash projects and the Bitcoin Cash Ecosystem Fund is taking some time to get off the ground, so we aim to offer value for value by giving our donors our fixed-supply PAN token. Our PAN token enables donors to both show off their support for BCH Latam and potentially profit from our success in the future. We are also seeking feedback from the Bitcoin Cash community on our plans and activities, as well as new members to join our team. We hope to attract a CFO and lead developer from within the BCH community this month.

BC: Which specific countries in Latin America do you think need the most attention?

GD: We’re focused on Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Chile, roughly in that order. Colombia sends a lot of small remittances to Venezuela, often paying fees as high as 40%. Mexico is the largest remittance recipient in Latam, and the third largest in the world, with $36 billion in 2018 inflows. Cuba is a small market that is experiencing high remittance fees and difficulties due to US sanctions.

BC: How do you expect to create a “viral, feedback-loop mass adoption system”?

GD: Our gamified adoption app will present the end-user with a series of tasks they can complete to earn our PAN tokens. Tasks will begin with watching videos that teach them about Bitcoin Cash and progress to onboarding merchants, becoming liquidity agents, referring new remittance senders, spending BCH, providing support to merchants, holding meetups, starting Bitcoin Cash businesses and more. Think of it as a hybrid of Duolingo, Uber, a choose-your-own-adventure novel and a mechanical Turk. All tasks will be verifiable. Verification will be done via gamification by more advanced users and/or by an in-house quality control team. We will be able to limit the use of the system by market and country, thus ensuring that each market develops in a balanced manner.

By enabling new users to earn their way into Bitcoin Cash, we remove the barrier to entry of having to buy-in. This also helps solve the inflows challenge.

BC: What are PAN tokens?

GD: PAN is an SLP token with a fixed 400,000 token supply that we are selling in order to finance our profit-seeking BCH remittances business plan. We have sold about 1% of the 180,000 currently for sale. We aim to give our PAN token real-world utility by having our merchants accept it for goods and services and by making it the currency of our gamified adoption app. We’ve apportioned up to 45% of the total supply to finance 15 to 18 months of runway for our BCH remittances startup Panmoni, 25% for the team and 30% for the gamified adoption app or possibly a second financing round. Full details are available at bchlatam.com/crowdfunding2020.

BC: Do you think Bitcoin Cash will ever become a global currency or something that’s just used by a niche group?

GD: I believe that Bitcoin Cash can become the dominant currency of the world. Our challenge is to build real consumer utility that crosses the chasm and is adopted by mainstream users to meet regular and basic needs. Remittances are a repeat-use $689 billion per year industry that promises to be an excellent first stepping-stone towards regular, global use for Bitcoin Cash.

BC: How do you feel about the current state of Bitcoin Cash as far as ecosystem and development growth?

GD: The irregular block times and the passionate furor over the Infrastructure Funding Plan are a bit unsettling. The frequent meetups, the number, and variety of developers read.cash, memo.cash, the people working on merchant adoption, Bitcoin.com, the welcoming and supportive attitude of the community, and Local.Bitcoin.com are all very encouraging.

We urgently need to move forward on ecosystem funding, regular block times and instantly-settled transactions. We need more mobile developers. A reduced focus on passionate philosophical debate and an increased focus on practical, systematic business plans would be good. It’s important people realize that we need to solve the inflows challenge in order to progress beyond small-scale, hobbyist merchant and consumer adoption. Almost no one is talking about this. I’d like to see software development revolve around more evidenced, researched and properly presented business use cases so we can use resources effectively to grow real use in the real world.

What do you think about the BCH Latam initiative and George Donnelly’s efforts? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, BCH Latam Initiative, Fair Use, and Pixabay.

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Pirate Chain Coin Now Available for Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange, Joins New Alliance

14/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

Piracy Coin Pirate Chain Now Available for Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange, Joins New Alliance

Pirate Chain (ARRR) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency with non-optional, private-only addresses and transactions. This coin has is now available for trading to users of Bitcoin.com Exchange, soon after the team behind it joined the Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance.

Also Read: Users of Bitcoin.com Exchange Can Win Rewards Worth $25,000 in Gocrypto Trading Competition

ARRR Now Available for Trading on Bitcoin.com Exchange

Bitcoin.com Exchange has added support for trading Pirate Chain (ARRR), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency with non-optional, private-only addresses and transactions that are shielded by ZK-Snarks technology. The developers of the coin state that they aim to create the most secure and anonymous cryptocurrency, and explain that ARRR is secured by Bitcoin and Komodo’s hashrates through a Delayed Proof-of-Work algorithm.

Pirate Chain’s Captain Draeth commented on the Bitcoin.com Exchange listing: “It is difficult to find a large exchange that is willing to list privacy coins, especially Pirate Chain since we are one of, if not the most, private coin in existence. On top of that, most of the larger exchanges require some sort of company or corporation behind it, which goes against the ethos of Pirate Chain and crypto in general. Being able to list on this exchange shows that there are larger exchanges willing to list coins that represent financial freedom, because that’s exactly what Pirate Chain stands for.”

Bitcoin.com Exchange was launched in early September 2019 as an easy-to-use platform with world-class security and a powerful trading engine. The platform employs institutional-grade encryption, two-factor authentication (2FA) and IP whitelisting to keep user accounts secure at all times. Available digital assets include ADA, ATOM, BCH, BTC, EOS, ETC, ETH, LTC, ONT, TRX, USDT, WAVES, XLM and XRP.

To help introduce Pirate Chain to its users, Bitcoin.com Exchange is hosting a trading competition and a draw where users can win prizes in ARRR and BCH. For the exact details of the terms and conditions check out this page.

Pirate Chain Joins Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance

The Pirate Chain team has recently announced a partnership to form the Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance (BPSAA). In addition to Pirate Chain, current members of the BPSAA include Turtle Network, Sentinel and Ether-1. The alliance aims to lead by example on innovation and cooperation and become a vocal champion for the blockchain industry.

Turtle Network is a highly scalable smart contract platform with a decentralized exchange (DEX) featuring multi-currency secure wallets for all activities. Ether-1 is a community-governed, decentralized, content and web-hosting network. Sentinel is a multi-protocol ecosystem focused on equal access to a marketplace of distributed services and resources.

The BPSAA says it will continue to expand its foundation by onboarding projects with strong vision and real-life usage potential. Interested projects need to contact the alliance and applications will be reviewed on a periodic basis.

According to BPSAA founder Pirate Chain Captain Draeth: “All members hold the belief that cross-platform interoperability between projects will create value and exciting innovative cross-chain fintech solutions. Each member provides a unique role and has their specialization within the alliance. This creates the foundation for a well-rounded alliance with a wide range of tools and skillsets. Together the alliance aims to set new standards for collaboration and innovation in the blockchain industry.”

Benefits to BPSAA members include a common forum of developers to help provide technical and integration assistance, a group think tank to cultivate ideas for new solutions, a united co-marketing effort that increases the visibility for all alliance members, and the right to vote on new alliance member applicants.

What do you think about Bitcoin.com Exchange listing pirate chain for trading? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

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US Department of Justice Is Criminalizing Onchain Privacy, Starting With Mixers

14/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

The American government’s long-running war on privacy escalated this week following the arrest of Coin Ninja’s Larry Harmon on money laundering charges. A Department of Justice statement that “seeking to obscure virtual currency transactions in this way [using mixers] is a crime” means that bitcoiners risk prosecution simply for exercising their right to privacy.

Also read: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Gives Testimony on Cryptocurrency, New Regulations Rolling Out Soon

First They Came for Larry Harmon

The cryptosphere was rocked on Thursday by the news that Coin Ninja and Dropbit CEO Larry Harmon had been arrested on charges of laundering $311 million from darknet marketplace (DNM) Alphabay. Despite having no direct connection with Alphabay, the Helix mixer Harmon had developed was recommended by the DNM. Coin mixers, or tumblers, are legally used by bitcoin owners to merge their transactions with those of other users, providing a degree of onchain privacy that Bitcoin does not provide by default. Mixers can also be used by criminals for the same purpose.

The grand jury indictment served in Washington, D.C. is a nightmare for Harmon and his family (his wife has since faced telephone threats from blackmailers demanding bitcoin), as well as for Coin Ninja’s employees and customers. Dropbit, described as “Venmo for bitcoin,” sponsored the What Bitcoin Did podcast hosted by Peter McCormack and had a high industry profile. Both of Hamon’s companies have had their assets frozen, including those of customers which were in Dropbit’s custodial Lightning wallet. But the repercussions of Harmon’s arrest threaten to extend much further, affecting anyone who’s ever taken measures to enhance their privacy through deploying onchain obfuscation techniques.

Is Bitcoin Mixing a Crime?

“This indictment underscores that seeking to obscure virtual currency transactions in this way [using a mixer] is a crime,” said Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski in a statement on Thursday. The day before, in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said “We want to make sure that these [cryptocurrencies] are not used as the equivalent of secret bank accounts … “We are working with FinCEN and we will be rolling out new regulations to be very clear on greater transparency so that law enforcement can see where the money is going and that this isn’t used for money laundering.”

Commenting on the indictment against Larry Harmon, Bitcoin developer Matt Corallo tweeted “Setting precedent that tumblers (aka “still-worse-privacy-than-cash-machines”) are illegal to own/operate would be the beginning of the end.” Prominent bitcoiners have long warned that U.S. regulators will seek to cripple the currency however they can, attacking it indirectly through asymmetric warfare against exchanges and centralized mixers whose operators can be cowed into compliance, under threat of imprisonment; Harmon faces up to 30 years if convicted. Centralized bitcoin tumbler Bestmixer.io was shut down last year in similar circumstance.

It remains to be determined whether Harmon’s Helix mixer was knowingly complicit in laundering darknet drug money; the service shut down in 2017, the same year that Alphabay bit the dust. Whatever the case, it appears that a chilling precedent is being made in criminalizing the innate human desire for privacy. If “seeking to obscure virtual currency transactions” is a crime, as the DoJ claims, what other privacy practices could be outlawed? Is using noncustodial mixers such as Samourai’s Whirlpool or Wasabi Wallet’s Coinjoin implementation illegal? Does generating a new bitcoin address for each new transaction count as a crime?

In a world where citizens were forced to hold their dollar bills in see-through plastic wallets, no one would feel safe stepping outside. The DoJ is effectively trying to enforce the digital equivalent on bitcoiners, conflating all attempts at concealment with criminality.

What are your thoughts on the latest DoJ statement? Do you think the U.S. is trying to outlaw onchain privacy? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry.

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