If the criminals in these examples are fundamentally enabled by
   smartphones are these plain old crimes or smartphone crimes? Will
   governments ever allow such devices and services?

   On Sat, Dec 25, 2021, 7:38 AM jim bell <[1]jdb10987@yahoo.com> wrote:

   [2]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 ([3]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
   ([4]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 ([5]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 [6]payment of a $1 million bitcoin ransom is that, as the Ukrainian
   interior minister said at the time, "[7]bitcoin kidnapping” or just
   boring old extortion?

References

   Visible links
   1. mailto:jdb10987@yahoo.com
   2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbirch/2021/04/14/new-digital-money-new-digital-crimes/?sh=1800e82d6d05
   3. https://www.bitsonline.com/tokyo-attempted-bitcoin-mugging/
   4. http://www.businessinsider.com/brooklyn-man-robbed-at-gunpoint-for-1100-in-bitcoin-2015-6?IR=T
   5. https://eu.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2021/03/31/springfield-businessman-says-1-8-million-bitcoin-stolen-overnight/7046104002/
   6. 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
   7. https://www.ft.com/content/0b5e1cdc-ecc2-11e7-8713-513b1d7ca85a

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