Comment by ttyprintk
4 months ago
From the beginning, they also feared contact with the underworld. People so familiar with the asymmetry between attackers and defenders online fail to imagine how that looks in real life. Considering the upfront cost of a rubber hose, a year's supply of heroin, Ensure (prevents bedsores) and maybe sodium pentothal: when $1.5 B hits the news, you need to be able to prove: it's gone; North Korea is protecting the proceeds; and you're back to being indistinguishable from an innocent tax payer.
This explains strategically erratic behavior in communities like loot crate gambling. The low end and high end can rely on state protection. The center of the curve needs to look like a problematic target, and maybe draw attention to their competitors.
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