

Sheep Marketplace closes after theft of £3m in bitcoins - dirktheman
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25185225

======
iSnow
It's more like $90m and it was the operator of the site
([http://www.reddit.com/r/SheepMarketplace/comments/1ru5ir/fou...](http://www.reddit.com/r/SheepMarketplace/comments/1ru5ir/founda_wallet_containing_98million_worth_of_coins/)
and other threads in that subreddit)

~~~
easy_rider
That's right. 5400BTC is stated. Blockchain has been tracked, and first
estimate was around
[https://blockchain.info/address/1EiVHZnDVjFH6Tic1YmWUSfYmVUn...](https://blockchain.info/address/1EiVHZnDVjFH6Tic1YmWUSfYmVUnUZdnMU)

And then another blockchain was tracked. (the 90m one) And transactions all
end all being chopped up, and redistriuted, with the largest amounts going
into wallets like this:

[https://blockchain.info/nl/address/1P7hjN2J119r2MoT14PwnvtNk...](https://blockchain.info/nl/address/1P7hjN2J119r2MoT14PwnvtNkvohScS3zi)
This

~~~
judk
Is blockchain.info set up as an effective store of consensus around tracking
"evil" addresses? If not, is anyone else doing that (publicly)? I am sure the
NSA and cousins are studying the blockchain carefully.

~~~
easy_rider
Well, I don't own BTC myself, am not in the BTC community and I'm not NSA even
:) But judging by what the internets says. Yeah, this seems to be the the case
in the BTC community to monitor and track suspicious activity. I've also seen
a 00666 BTC transaction being used as a community effort to mark the
blockchain. The number in the amount should need no further elaboration for
the intention. That

------
minimax
I'm not too worried about this since you can be pretty sure the aggrieved will
probably be able to track down the thief by examining the block chain. That is
one nice thing about bit coin: it exists outside financial regulation and so
penalties for transgressions like this can be handled extrajudicially. My
paycheck comes today and I'm really upset I have to pay rent and not just
invest the whole thing in more bit coins.

~~~
gizmo
> transgressions like this can be handled extrajudicially

Is this code for vigilante justice?

~~~
minimax
What I mean is why let the innovation stop at the financial system when we can
reinvent/streamline the judicial system as well!

~~~
danielweber
I upvoted you because I presumed your comment was satire.

~~~
judk
Please don't do that. Sarcasm is a cancer on written discourse, making it
harder to extract meaning.

~~~
ufdhigdfh
I upvoted your comment because I was unable to determine if it was satire.

~~~
ChristianMarks
I'm upvoting all of these comments because irony is cheaper than advice.

------
obiefernandez
If you want to understand the drama around the doxing of the site's owner and
how it led him to run check out Gwern's comment here:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/comments/1ptd6b/precommitme...](http://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/comments/1ptd6b/precommitment_proof_of_knowledge_about_a/cdr9pe8)

------
talles
How many of those thefts will it take too see that we are _not_ ready to
really jump into bitcoin yet.

------
jellicle
Site operators retire to Cayman Islands.

Bitcoin has been mostly good for promoting the Ponzi scheme style of business
operation. Bitcoin businesses are divided into exactly two types:

\- those that have absconded with all customer funds

\- those that are planning to abscond with all customer funds

~~~
gwern
> Site operators retire to Cayman Islands.

The chance of that at this point is practically nil. The owner has been doxed,
both the FBI and Czech police have been thoroughly notified, and the
blockchain movements suggest the owner is panicking and no longer thinking
straight (who on earth moves 96k btc through a mixer in a day? that shows they
either don't understand the idea of mixing or they are too frantic to realize
the futility of it).

~~~
throwaway0094
Owner has been doxed? Link?

~~~
berberous
Gwern (of gwern.net) released the information on PasteBin:
[http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=9spTATw6](http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=9spTATw6)

Earlier HN discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6828620](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6828620)

------
tlrobinson
These are some expensive lessons being learned. Bitcoin and other crypto can
solve most of these problems. 2-of-3 multisig escrow transactions should be
required on marketplaces.

------
at-fates-hands
What's the point of using BT if it isn't totally anonymous like people say it
is? I thought the main draw of using BT is it's totally anonymous. I'm not
being sarcastic at all either when I ask that.

~~~
singlow
It is not anonymous, in the sense that the transaction history of a wallet is
public info. If that transaction history can identify you, you are not
anonymous.

The point if bitcoin is that it is decentralized and no entity can affect or
effect a transaction apart from the holder of the private key. As long as you
can keep your key secret, no government or bank can seize your funds or
prevent you from spending them.

Anonymity is possible through laundering techniques that obfuscate the
transaction history. But if you provide an address to the recipient of the
coins or purchase the coins with a bank account, your anonymity is limited by
the privacy protections of the person who ships your goods or of your bank.

If you mine your coins or earn them in a way that does not require the
disclosure of your identity and spend them at places that do not require any
identifiable information, it is very anonymous.

~~~
at-fates-hands
Thanks for the clarification, it makes more sense to me now.

