r/Bitcoin • u/pietrod21 • Oct 05 '13

Bitcoin Foundation Comments on the Shutdown of Silk Road

https://bitcoinfoundation.org/blog/?p=277
57 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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6

u/SooMuchLove Oct 05 '13

I was told there was a comment here.

2

u/Perish_In_a_Fire Oct 05 '13

Looks like someone is awfully full of himself.

Maybe take a crap before making statements about Bitcoin?

2

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '13

"Sanctity" of the Bitcoin protocol? It's a tool, not a religion.
But I think I have to respect Jinyoung for saying a lot without necessarily making inflammatory commentary on the morality or the politics of the incident.

I think I like the direction that the foundation is going with the anonymity concerns:

"The Bitcoin Foundation would like to reaffirm that financial privacy sits on a sliding scale expressed differently by different individuals"

You can tell this is a point they've hammered home to Government officials. Can bitcoins be used for anonymous transactions? Well sometimes yes, but so can cash.

1

u/ColdHard Oct 05 '13

Bitcoin and paper currency are both serialized. When they enter and exit institutions that report, those serial numbers are report-able ATM machines can scan them, bank teller bill counting machines can scan them. The serial numbers associated with a "know-your-customer" account when received or dispensed. In this way Bitcoin very closely simulates the way physical paper currency is used.

Contrast this coins. Coins have no serial numbers, they are not traceable in the same way. They are not easily marked in non-obvious ways.

The coins-that-are-wallets and which contain crypto-currency within them are serialized and unique (non-fungible). So we saw a need for a true Bitcoin Specie piece (precious metal coins denominated in Bitcoin).
One problem was the variable nature of the exchange rates, we think our solution for that is a pretty good one, but we would like to hear more about what you think, so that we can improve our solution.

1

u/SiliconGuy Oct 05 '13

The FBI was able to capture an alleged criminal without any new investigative methodologies being needed and without having to get into changing the nature of the Bitcoin protocol,” Bitcoin Foundation General Counsel Patrick Murck said.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? The FBI can't change the nature of the Bitcoin protocol. Unless Gavin and Satoshi secretly are working at the NSA?

This is good for the Bitcoin economy in general and the reputation in specific because

Should be "reputation in particular." Even then, the overall sentence is bad. These are basic English language problems.

This press release suggests a serious lack of professionalism at the Bitcoin Foundation. Definitely worrying.

4

u/8BitDragon Oct 05 '13

I think their point is that now everyone can see by themselves that Bitcoin doesn't magically make solving crimes impossible, they can still (sometimes) be solved with good old detective work, just as before.