[pc86]

I take issue with your third point. Libertarianism does not in any way mean you won't avail yourself of law enforcement if you've been the victim of a crime.

I'm not a cryptocurrency guy, but what exactly about them would someone involve law enforcement for?

[Analemma_]

geofft's answer is funnier, but I think the more likely answer is this:

Realistically speaking, cryptocurrency-related crime is never going to stop being easy and profitable unless there is a massive increase in both a) government control over the internet and b) coordinated international law enforcement, since these crimes are usually international. Since libertarians typically oppose both, they are incentivized to make crypto-related crimes-- even when they're the victim-- seem like no big deal to avoid helping to fuel an outcry that might cause politicians to take action and bring about a) and b).

Granted, that's all quite speculative, but empirically, I have seen quite a few people get robbed blind of their cryptocoins and be remarkably sanguine about it, and I'm struggling to come up with another explanation.

[geofft]

Law enforcement is funded by taxation, which is theft. If you avail yourself of law enforcement, you are benefiting yourself from the proceeds of crime for personal gain.

[Bartweiss]

That's an anarcho-capitalist stance, sure. But very few programmers are an-caps, compared to the number of libertarians.

Most libertarians (and minarchists, and a lot of others) specifically accept basic law enforcement as a reasonable role of government. The whole "night watchman state" idea centers around defense, policing, and courts as legitimate government powers.

(Also, this is backwards even to an-caps. The taxation was theft, but availing yourself of services purchased is reasonable compensation since no one else is permitted to sell legal services.)

[geofft]

Sure, but is e.g. law enforcement in America a legitimate government power? People on all corners of the political spectrum believe that America's police is entirely too powerful and too militarized and solving all the wrong problems. They believe that even if there exists some law enforcement that is a legitimate purpose of government, the thing America has is definitely not that. If I think there's a good chance that this specific law enforcement organization respond to the cryptocoin spammer with a SWAT team and a CFAA prosecution, is it still legitimate for me to ask that department for help?

And if I'm trying to enforce laws against e.g. someone in another jurisdiction, I didn't pay for that. The funding for that police department was taken from people in that jurisdiction. I can see it being consistent to make use of services that my own tax dollars paid for, but is it legitimate to make use of services that other people's tax dollars paid for, without their consent?