Last Year Mt. Gox Seizures Linked to Silk Road in Fed Testimonies
Posted by: DeepDotWeb
January 13, 2014
So it appears that these Seizures of Mt. Gox accounts in the usa were no only a move against Bitcoins or a regulatory thing, but was an integral part of the ongoing investigation against Silk road and the other black markets, as it was stated clearly by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) states,
“In May 2013, through an interagency taskforce led by ICE in Baltimore, Maryland, three U.S. bank accounts associated with what was then the world’s largest bitcoin exchanger, Japan-based Mt.Gox, which was moving approximately $60 million per month into a number of Internet-based hidden black markets operating on the Tor network, including Silk Road, were seized for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1960, operating a money service business in the United States without a license. The bulk of the funds were associated with the illicit purchase of drugs, firearms, and child pornography.”
The genesis block website posted a great article on this matter, saying:
The testimony clearly draws a direct connection between Mt. Gox and Silk Road to the tune of tens of millions of dollars per month, yet still cites a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1960 (money transmitting regulations) as the impetus for the actual account seizures. When a seemingly innocuous section from the testimony by the Department of Homeland Security is added to this, the underlying motive for the seizures become clearer. In particular, the DHS states,
Quoting again:
“The USSS is responsible for the forensics and cyber analysis in this ongoing criminal investigation [of Silk Road] and, along with our interagency partners, will attempt to identify the site’s origin and the identity of the site administrator. As a result of this ongoing investigation, approximately $5.5 million has been seized by the USSS and ICE-HSI.”
- So the government DO know where some of the Bitcoins are coming from or going to? Apparently so.
- They Do have the forensic tools to track Bitcoin transactions into some of the hidden sites – and that was a year ago.
This makes it even a better reason to tumble your coins before placing them in or out of any hidden site.
</div>
Updated: 2014-01-13