[1]New Digital Money, New Digital Crimes

                    New Digital Money, New Digital Crimes

                              David G.W. Birch

     Unconditionally anonymous electronic money is a really, really bad
                            idea. Prove me wrong.

The crypto opportunities for the gangsters are as big as the crypto
opportunities for the GAFAs

   I wrote last week that governments will never allow anonymous digital
   currencies and my comments attracted a certain amount of controversy.
   And I understand why. But to those who say that uncensorable,
   untraceable digital cash would be a shield against dictators, a force
   for the oppressed and a boon to free men everywhere… well, I think it’s
   more complicated than that.
     __________________________________________________________________

   The issue of anonymity in payments is complex and crucial and it
   deserves informed, calm, strategic thinking because the transition to
   digital currency touches so many aspects of society.
     __________________________________________________________________

   One obvious and important aspect is crime. Would digital currency
   change crime? If I hire thugs to lure a cryptobaron to a hotel room and
   then beat him up to get $1m in bitcoins from him ([2]as actually
   happened in Japan), is that a crypto-crime or just boring old
   extortion? If I use Craigslist to lure a HODLer to a street corner and
   then pull a gun on him and force him to transfer his bitcoins to me
   ([3]as actually happened in New York), is that a crypto-crime or just
   boring old mugging? If I get hold of someone’s login details and
   transfer their bitcoins to myself ([4]as has just happened in
   Springfield), is that a crypto-crime or just boring old fraud? If I
   kidnap the CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange and then release him after
   the [5]payment of a $1 million bitcoin ransom is that, as the Ukrainian
   interior minister said at the time, "[6]bitcoin kidnapping” or just
   boring old extortion?

References

   Visible links
   1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbirch/2021/04/14/new-digital-money-new-digital-crimes/?sh=1800e82d6d05
   2. https://www.bitsonline.com/tokyo-attempted-bitcoin-mugging/
   3. http://www.businessinsider.com/brooklyn-man-robbed-at-gunpoint-for-1100-in-bitcoin-2015-6?IR=T
   4. https://eu.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2021/03/31/springfield-businessman-says-1-8-million-bitcoin-stolen-overnight/7046104002/
   5. http://uk.businessinsider.com/kidnapped-crypto-exec-released-after-paying-1-million-bitcoin-ransom-2017-12?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider+(Silicon+Alley+Insider)&r=US&IR=T
   6. https://www.ft.com/content/0b5e1cdc-ecc2-11e7-8713-513b1d7ca85a

   Hidden links:
   8. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbirch/2021/04/14/new-digital-money-new-digital-crimes/?sh=1800e82d6d05