Comment by Eddy_Viscosity2

Comment by Eddy_Viscosity2 10 months ago

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> there is nothing inherent to crypto that prevents legal authorities from pursuing those who perpetrate fraud and bringing them to justice.

I will happy to be corrected here, but my understanding is that the foundationally key aspect of crypto that makes it worth anything at all, is that people can use it to circumvent traditional financial tracking of transfers and how they are associated with the individuals who made them. So in order for legal authorities to go after fraudsters, wouldn't they need these tools - the very ones crypto circumvent by design?

KetoManx64 10 months ago

Bitcoin, the first, biggest and most important cryptocurrency blockchain is a often referred to a "public ledger". There is no obfuscation built into itz all transactions you make are public and if someone knows your wallet address they can see every transaction you've made. Very few cryptocurrencies are private by default (eg, Monero) and they hold a very small portion of the cryptocurrencies market cap.

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ETH_start 10 months ago

Most of the scams happening in the crypto space involve a significant non-crypto element, like a fake website that is made to look another website, or social engineering through messages on Discord.

These criminals are well known by crypto communities, with repeat offenders targeting a given community numerous times over a course of months/years. Law enforcement has numerous opportunities to go after these individuals, even if they used a perfectly traceless cryptocurrency.

In the case of FTX, it was run like a traditional bank, taking deposits and holding users'crypto and fiat assets on their behalf. The signs of a fraud were replete for many months before the crash that exposed it all, but the company was simply never investigated.

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