Notorious Bitcoin criminals such as Ross Ulbricht have been arrested one after another. This has made everyone realize that Bitcoin crimes cannot always go unpunished. Moreover, law enforcement agencies have also realized that the dark side of Bitcoin actually has positive effects, at least it can play a role in pursuing criminals.
Some Bitcoin criminals are already well known. For example, Czech Thomas Jiikovsky admitted to participating in a Ponzi scheme worth up to 150 million, which is also considered the first Bitcoin securities fraud case. After that, former Bitcoin tycoon Mark Karpelès has also been detained by the police in Japan, and the police accused him of fraud and embezzlement on the Bitcoin trading platform Mt.Gox. Now, you understand.
Criminals may have naively believed that Bitcoin’s anonymity would give them peace of mind, and anonymity was once thought to be inherent in Bitcoin. However, a recent report in Science magazine details how forensic researchers have used Bitcoin to catch self-righteous criminals by making full use of this technology. Because even Bitcoin leaves clues. The clues from Bitcoin databases can help law enforcement crack down on those who use Bitcoin to commit crimes but are still at large, researchers say. In addition, researchers can fight back against criminals by using a mixture of digital forensics, economics and computer science techniques. According to Sarah Meiklejohn, a computer scientist at University College London (UCL), when Bitcoin first came out, there was a panic in the legal community. But a few years later, many arrests and trials have shown that Bitcoin criminals are not always so difficult to catch. That’s made regulators and law enforcement realize that cryptocurrencies and their rich data can help them follow Bitcoin’s trail, and according to Patrick McDaniel, a computer scientist at Pennsylvania State University, we should think of Bitcoin as a “frontier model in economics.” This means: if a bitcoin is just hoarded and never mixed back into the system, it is safe, but once a bitcoin is spent or transferred, it opens up a “Pandora’s box” of forensic data. Russia is about to crack down on Bitcoin (and even go further) Russia really hates Bitcoin. Now, Russian lawmakers are looking to curb the possibility of bitcoin activity in the country by introducing a seven-year prison sentence for anyone using bitcoin for related activities. Curiously, the Russian central bank still has plans to audit blockchain technology. However, Russia still wants to make Bitcoin activities illegal, at least that’s what the Russian Finance Ministry has said in a draft proposal following the new proposal. Lawmakers want to ensure that all domestic currencies come from the Russian Central Bank.
This sounds like the right approach for Russia, as the country's existing laws stipulate that engaging in any activity related to the production, sale or distribution of digital currencies is punishable by one year of re-education through labor. I guess that's better than seven years in prison? The Russian Ministry of Finance wants to add some additional provisions to the law, including fines of up to 500,000 rubles (about $7,100). But what if the "criminal" can't pay? They will have to mortgage their three years of work in advance or go to jail for four years.
It’s safe to say that Russia isn’t going to be a Bitcoin-friendly country anytime soon. Bitcoin from the perspective of central banks - similar to digital currencies
Although Bitcoin was originally designed as a libertarian currency that is free from government regulation, the focus of central bank discussions has now shifted to how to issue their own digital currencies through technology similar to Bitcoin, so that such currencies can operate under the control of central banks such as the Federal Reserve.
The system to be developed is called RSCoin. The project research started last year and was designed by researchers at University College London, inspired by the Bank of England's proposal. Of course, the UK's interest in launching projects related to Bitcoin and blockchain technology has far exceeded that of the United States.
Similar to Bitcoin, RSCoin uses encryption technology to form digital currency. It also uses the process of verifying and recording transaction data through a distributed ledger. However, unlike Bitcoin, this ledger will not be controlled by a specific number of users/computers (or, it will not cause controversy due to the limited number of people in the current Bitcoin community). RSCoin's ledger will be controlled by the central bank and leave the encryption key responsible for controlling the currency.
Of course, Bitcoin has never been fully approved by central banks. But a digital currency controlled by a central bank? That’s something that could potentially be supported by a central bank.
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