Today the FBI seized the Tor site which was known as the Amazon of illegal drugs, weapons and forged passports. The most amazing part is the estimated turn-over: 1.2 billion dollar (yes, $1,200,000,000)
According to the court documents the so-called Silk Road had approximately 957,079 registered accounts, but the number of users could have been higher or lower. With more than a $1000 per account, the site did better than the real Amazon, but it's no news that crime profits.
More info on http://nation.time.com/2013/10/02/alleged-silk-road-proprietor-ross-william-ulbricht-arrested-3-6m-in-bitcoin-seized/ #Tech
And there drops the price of bitcoin. I'm buying back in before the slump decides to go back up the hill.
Another one bites the dust………………
Killing off the competition so they can end the government shutdown.
competitor Atlantis Market did shut down on the 20th Sept., Silk Road today – meh, replacement is already in place…
With bit coin being confiscated wouldn't that drive the price up, not down? +John Hanks
How many years was this site operating without the Feds being able to take it down +Max Huijgen?
+Pål Basso since February 2011
The Guardian says he has a G+ profile and YouTube profile but I can't find them, can you? Have they been take down? http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/02/alleged-silk-road-website-founder-arrested-bitcoin
+Neil Beaven http://preev.com Yes, but panic always sets in first.
+Pål Basso I remember hearing about the site being successful when BTC were about 10-20 USD a pop. They have been open a few years at least…?
Thanks +Otto Normalverbraucher. 1,2 billion dollars in a couple of years, that's quite impressive.
Found him now. Here he is, I think: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101844174649242995101
I found it in Wikipedia +John Hanks and it seem like +Otto Normalverbraucher is right.
Seem like it as his last post was a question if anyone knew people working for FedEx or UPS +Singularity Utopia. Lol
Related: gizmodo.com/8-insane-revelations-from-the-alleged-silk-road-kingpin-1440197442
+Otto Normalverbraucher said it "Meh!*
Cool link +John Hanks traditionally ive used mtgox.com for pricing
http://mtgox.com is pure evil. No withdrawal for 22+ months. Coinbase ftw.
This type of business is beyond law-enforcement. The more they close, the more profitable it becomes, the faster they pop up again. No end to that.
If a government really wants to protect its people from being drugged they would go about it in another way. But that's not the purpose. The purpose is to find more reasons to control and secure the internets.
All drugs are beyond power of law enforcement. How long has war on drugs being going? Arrests make the prices higher thus more profitable thus more incentive to deal.
I can't understand why Govs allow criminals to earn an estimated US$400 billion each year. They should legalise drugs to take the money away from criminals.
"Due to its illicit nature, statistics about profits from the drug trade are largely unknown. In its 1997 World Drugs Report the UNODC estimated the value of the market at US$400 billion, ranking drugs alongside arms and oil amongst the world's largest traded goods." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade
LOL, in the UK it costs £16 billion yearly to police illegal drugs yet the criminals still earn around 4 – 6 billion. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5115189/Illegal-drugs-cost-the-country-16bn-a-year-says-charity-Transform.html
+Singularity Utopia because some in gov't at all levels are in on it… simple.
+Singularity Utopia BTW, these guys weren't shut down over the drugs first and foremost, but about their use of Bitcoins as currency…
/cc +Alexander Becker your thoughts on my previous comment?
Spot on +Alex Schleber – drugs aren't the threat on Silkroad.
+Alex Schleber I'd say that notion is pretty speculative.
+Alexander Becker , +Alex Schleber , +Singularity Utopia , +Max Huijgen – speaking of Government and "War On Drugs" – there's this "Mocumentary" (a documentary that has a fun spin on the topic) called How To Make Money Selling Drugs http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276962/ which superbly shows how the governments are fucking with things, how it became a purely political scheme in which are pumped many billions over billions of dollars. it's fun to watch and very informative! The people in it are names like Susan Saradon, Woody Harrelson, 50 cents, Eminem, the former owner of the renowned Huffington newspaper and Russel Simmons
I want to know if the FBI is now the sole proprietor of DPR's BTC stash. They are hovering their iron fist around grabbing control. imo
I hope bitcoin pulls a PayPal and freezes the stolen wallet.