I listen in on a lot of online interviews. The valuable information they provide helps me to move forward with a much clearer thought process. The latest interview that I thought warranted attention came to me via e-mail from GoldSilver.com, Mike Maloney's website of which I am a subscriber. The site regularly puts out great videos and this morning's release with Wealthion's Adam Taggert hosting a 1 hour+ interview with Alasdair Macleod, head of research for Gold Money is full of surprises.
The title of the video might give investors goosebumps, hinting at a major crash in the U.S.D. Index within the next ear and a half, 'Alasdair Macleod: 'Major Wipeout' of fiat currencies this year to cut dollar in half?'. The main topic of the video is the U.S. dollar, other currencies and precious metals but later in the video, the topic turns to cryptocurrencies and Macleod pointed out something that resonated with me.
He stated that as Nazi loot was found and returned to their original owners, the same may occur in a few years time (maybe sooner) where authorities make a serious effort to repatriate stolen Bitcoin, even if it's changed hands numerous times and the last wallet to receive it will have to relinquish ownership to its original owner, even though they had no idea it came from illicit gains.
Macleod goes further to point out that if a big purchase was made with that stolen Bitcoin, say a car or a house then guess what? That will be forfeited as well. If it changes hands a few times this way before it's finally stopped, then how many people can end up getting burned like this as the coins change hands?
It's a scary thought and I don't ever want that to happen to me. Fortunately, there are some people out there who are keeping close track on wallets with known illicit Bitcoins that will quickly share this information with everyone. A good example is when recently, Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant alerted HitBC exchange last November that Bitcoins had been transferred to its exchange from wallets known to be associated with the Mt. Gox hack in 2014.
After 7 years lying in dormancy, somebody tried to move some of these coins hoping no one would notice. They were wrong, thanks to Mr. Ju. It's likely now the Bitcoins transacted out to HitBC will be recovered. The wallet thats received the Bitcoins may have been totally unaware they were dealing with criminals. Either way, they're going to lose those coins, if they haven't already.
As for Mt. Gox which went bankrupt in 2014, creditors have until March to register for payouts. It's still ongoing after all this time so I won't be surprised if even years from now, creditors will go after wallets that have their stolen Bitcoins.
So the motto of this story is, 'know where your Bitcoin came from'. Don't make any expensive transactions unless you're absolutely sure your coins are 'clean'. If they turn out to be dirty, then it could end up costing you. You could not only lose your Bitcoin but anything you may have purchased with it. Laws are being rewritten over cryptos so situations like this may happen in our not-too-distant future.
Bitcoin is not as 'secret' as most people think it is. Each transaction is logged and that information stays with them. It's our keys that are secret. Yet, if law enforcement show up with a search warrant and take you to court, it'll just be easier to hand over your keys, especially if you're faced with an expensive lawsuit from a coin's original owner.
Stay safe and stay Bitcoin vigilant!
Peace and Love to everyone.
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