Untraceable "money" used for illegal activities. Who knew?
http://blogs.reuters...the-bitcoinverse/
Did the FBI just deal a fatal blow to bitcoin? Zero Hedge is at his most apocalyptic this afternoon, saying that Âthe end may be nigh for bitcoin now that Silk Road, the bitcoin-fueled drugs bazaar, has been closed down by the Feds. Even Adrian Chen, who has done most of the best reporting on Silk Road, was shocked by what the FBI found:
According to the indictment, Silk Road was bigger than anyone had suspected: It boasted over $1.6 billion in sales from 2011-2013, which resulted in $80 million in commissions. (Researchers had previously estimated that Silk Road was doing about $22 million in total sales per year.)
Chen, too, sees todayÂs news as bearish for bitcoin: Âthe extent to which Silk Road underpinned the Bitcoin market is pretty amazing, he tweeted. After all, the complaint reveals that from February 2011 through July 2013, Silk RoadÂs revenues totaled 9,519,664 bitcoins  thatÂs almost as many as the total number of bitcoins in circulation (11,744,575).
But although IÂm skeptical about bitcoinÂs future, I donÂt see todayÂs news as bad for the cryptocurrency. In fact, quite the opposite. If Silk Road is now shut down and if no one else manages to enter the vacuum caused by its disappearance, then the FBI will at a stroke have managed to remove the single skeeviest aspect of bitcoin, and the main reason why people like Chuck Schumer are so suspicious of it.
[...]
I don't know if I follow his logic, but he tells an interesting story.
[edit:] More - http://www.balloon-j...0/02/me-and-paul/
Cheers,
Scott.
