I take this to mean that the Feds expect bitcoin to remain legal, however:
- It will be the federal government's first-ever auction of bitcoins, and as Forbes points out, there is no legally certified US Bitcoin exchange, so converting the stash into cash first will likely not be an option.
So could they raid Coinbase?
That's a good point. WTF. If those are Ulbricht's coins, then that the auction should come after his conviction. Maybe they should wait until after the trial, then consider the bitcoin as punishment enough.These bitcoins were forfeited not because they are bitcoins, but because they were, as the court found, the proceeds of crimes.”
civil asset forfeiture, which I assume these were seized under, requires no conviction, charges, or even evidence. flagamuffin posted a decent article a while back that I totally lied about not reading: http://hubski.com/pub?id=124830
Yes yes they could. How did the feds seize it remotely or by knowing the password?
Something I long those lines Most of the famous old school hackers got passwords by pretending to be IT guys. Just call the bank manager and ask him to give you the password is still possible I bet.