>> I dreamed I saw Jim Bell last night,
>> alive as you and me.
That's the (modified) start of the Joe Hill song, in case you didn't recognize it.
> it ought to be awfully difficult for the thief to remain entirely unknown, at least given enough
> time. After all, it is well understood that Bitcoin is merely pseudonynous, not entirely anonymous.
Watch for an anonymizing exchange being set up. Even if the proud new possessor of a bazzillion bitcoins has to lose half of the value in laundering them sufficiently, that's still a nice pile of change.
As for Dan Geer's question about state actors, I of course would never suggest my government would do anything illegal or even questionable.
-- Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet. -- Arnaud-Amaury, 1209