Pedophiles exchange child pornography in Bitcoin
Welcome to Video
This was the name of the site that allowed people to upload child porn and get credit for it. There was also the option to buy/download porn with BTC. The whole thing was hosted in South Korea and the webmaster has been arrested as well.
- 25000 videos uploaded
- Over 1000000 downloads
- 38 different countries
- 300+ active users arrested
Now for me this is amazing news. But I did get comments from people around me saying that this must be a bad thing.
- This shows the transparency of BTC
- The police/agencies were able to trace the network just through the payments
- this led to over 300 arrests of different pedophiles all over the world
The whole operation is notable for me because of investigation that enabled it, which did not focus not on hacking efforts or surveilling encrypted communications, but on tracing bitcoin transactions. Everyone that is a bit involved in crypto knows this but apparently this has not really sunk into the mainstream criminal element yet.
"In August 2017 an investigation began into the illicit transactions of virtual currency on the dark net. By following the funds on a blockchain it ultimately uncovered the severity of Welcome to Video, a Tor network-based child pornography site that accepted payment in bitcoin," deputy assistant attorney general Richard Downing said in the press conference.
so for me this is positive news and hopefully this will also help people realise that BTC really is a transparent new currency and not something for pedophiles and criminals.
This is in my opinion also something that can lower the barrier of entry into BTC for retail consumers and as such drive up the price.
We all know this will be a slow process but every event like this is one in favour of the HODLERS
what do you think?
good news or bad news?
I believe MONERO XMR has a huge potential to overcome btc in terms of anonymous users. Only time will tell... well, considering btc users wouldn’t be hiding forever, there will be a day (if no ones breaks XMR codes) where fungibility will only be found on monero (real virtual cash).btc is not fungible, thus has no intention to substitute money virtually speaking. I believe those hackers got what they deserved. Their lack of intelligence is demonstrated through their criminal activities, as well.
well even though I believe there are smart criminal masterminds out there, those are not the kind to be caught like this.
I have no monero but am intrigued by the tech though
This is why I no longer use BTC for transactions. Yes, what the scumbags did is horrible. But privacy is important and tainted coins are real so I will be using Mimblewimble coins like Epic Cash for all transactions.
ye, good point, I am looking closely at those mimblewimble coins... should really look a bit closer at epic cash... its just that name though
They should have used Monero. It's also why I feel privacy coins are ultimately a bad idea.
I'm biased, but I couldn't agree more that if you think about it, this is a strength of bitcoin and not a weakness. They wouldn't have been able to crack it without using blockchain explorers.
Also, cash is still used to buy and sell all the most messed up stuff in the world. The majority of illegal stuff are bought using money. Crypto just makes international and cyber crimes easier because it's decentralized.
yea. that is also something that is bugging me... I can understand the want for privacy but it does allow for a lot of bad stuff.
But cash is the most anonymous stuff out there indeed
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Definitely all actions that neutralize or at least mitigate criminal acts will always be received as good news.
We have always heard about the anonymity of BTC and the way in which it can cover up criminal acts.
The truth is that BTC is not "anonymous" but is "pseudonym". Therefore tracking is possible. although as you very well you say it:
Fortunately there are cybersecurity startups such as Chainalysis are dedicated to using blockchains such as Bitcoin to prevent human trafficking or child abuse.
Your friend, Juan
I remember that a few years ago, bitcoin was related to the dark web and the black market that could be found there, where you could buy many illegal things or hire a hitman.
At present, I believe that part of those ideas of absolute anonymity with the use of bitcoin remains in the general population, but the facts repeatedly show that the flow of payment operations in the blockchain and the laundering of criminal capital can be identified.
This case of the pedophile network is one more that shows that the destination of payments and purchases can be traced within the illegal markets and is accepted evidence in the investigation processes in different countries.