[ExI] quote for the day

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Thursday, 24 March 2016, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

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> *From:* extropy-chat [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org');>] *On Behalf Of *Anders Sandberg
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> >…It is the (relative) untraceability of bitcoin that makes it useful for this kind of attack. Kidnappers and extortionists have always had trouble getting payment to work, but using digital money and software that act as smart contracts this has become much easier. The problem was discussed by Tim May and the other ur-cryptoanarchists on this very list back in the paleozoic 1990s. I recently reviewed that work for my paper on assassination technology (assassination markets were one of the "classic" dark ideas, and have actually been realized sort of - they likely do not work, but people have set up darknet markets for it). It is an interesting problem for independent cryptocurrencies and smart contract systems to avoid being too useful for this kind of crime…--
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> Anders Sandberg
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> Future of Humanity Institute
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> Oxford Martin School
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> Oxford University
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> Ja that is what I was thinking.  For a typical kidnapper, the victim could
> record the serial numbers on all the money, or set up a camera at the
> pickup site if the demand is for gold.  I don’t think there is a foolproof
> way for the bad guys to get their money without something like bitcoin.  So
> then, is it true that if a sleazebag demands a ransom in bitcoin, she can
> get away with it?
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Bitcoin is not anonymous, it is pseudonymous. Every Bitcoin transaction is
publicly logged, and it may be possible to trace transactions from an
address that can ultimately be connected with a known entity, such as a
Bitcoin exchange. Attempts can be made to make the tracing process more
difficult, for example using Bitcoin mixers, but it is not a guarantee of
anonymity.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Anonymity


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou
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