Comment by alphazard
19 hours ago
I know there is an anti-cryptocurrency sentiment on this site. But this is one of the many "political" problems, that is being transformed into a mere technical problem.
19 hours ago
I know there is an anti-cryptocurrency sentiment on this site. But this is one of the many "political" problems, that is being transformed into a mere technical problem.
How is that true? The FBI can, has, and does seize crypto assets with no more or less proof than in this case.
It can be easier to hide or obfuscate your crypto assets if you do it correctly, than physical cash. Key word being correctly.
It gives the option of better self custody for that attack vector.
There are court filings where they included seized Monero wallets, and had no idea of the balance, no idea of the how to access the wallet due to lack of password, and most importantly, no proof that the balance they THINK they seized is still there
since you can retain access in multiple ways and can move funds from that wallet, that means the FBI seized a copy of a lock where funds were ostensibly behind. But no key, and not the only lock.
You can also use Monero as an intermediary mixer to fund anonymous wallets in other currencies. Since program and smart contract platforms have so many other assets to hold, like stablecoins. The governemnt won't seize those, while the government will seize your exchange accounts and the transparent wallets you transferred to from the exchange accounts. You want to unlink your assets.
This has worked for 10 years consecutively, and Monero has increased its security and continues to as computation performance improves.
It is likely that more blockchains go opaque with opt-in transparency, as computation continues to improve.
Government agencies can - and frequently do - seize crypto. The US government now holds around 1% of all BTC, solely as a result of asset seizures.
I mean in this specific case, just depositing it in a bank normally would have also prevented the problem. Storing $40k in cash anywhere is a bad idea.
It's not an illegal idea though, the government had no right to take it. But also what if the bank burns down, gets robbed, etc etc etc. Most security boxes aren't insured so you're screwed. And if you're paying to insure your cash, why not put it into a savings account and make the bank pay you for it.