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by pmorici 4490 days ago
For anyone thinking, "O good the government is here to investigate and get our money back" I wouldn't get too excited I'd say this is more likely them wanting to investigate Silk Road related Bitcoin activity than any desire to help those screwed by Gox.
2 comments
mbreese 4490 days ago
No... people lost a lot of money, including investors and investment funds located in the US. This is a case of the gov't doing their jobs and likely has nothing to do with Silk Road. It might have something to do with the MtGox funds previously confiscated by DHS(?) though.
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pmorici 4490 days ago
The previously confiscated funds were directly related to the Silk Road busts. DHS officials inferred as much in their testimony on Bitcoin before congress.

http://thegenesisblock.com/mt-gox-seizures-linked-silk-road-...

The article implies this wasn't just issued today, it is just being reported now but it says it was actually issued "this month". You know what else happened in that time frame? Charlie Shrem was arrested for Silk Road related Bitcoin charges.

I mean It would be great if they were investigating the insolvency but I'd say there is a good chance it isn't related to that.

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mbreese 4490 days ago
I was talking about what was seized from their accounts with Dowalla. Who seized that?
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pmorici 4490 days ago
Yes, that is the same as the Dwolla seizure. They had a Wells Fargo Business bank account linked to their Dwolla account. That is the 5 Million that was seized purportedly in connection to the investigation into Silk Road.
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mbreese 4490 days ago
After looking it up, the seizure wasn't related to the Silk Road case. It was because MtGox wasn't properly registered as a money transmitter and was operating their accounts in the US under false pretenses [1].

I don't think it's necessarily possible to link the Dowalla event to Silk Road directly (which was the FBI, not DHS).

[1] http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/16/mt-gox-dwolla-account-money...

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pmorici 4489 days ago
At the time of the seizures that was the stated reason but later when officials were testifying before congress they implied that the enforcement against MtGox was related to the SR investigation. They hadn't moved on SR at the time so they were keeping quite about the scope of their full intentions.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/23/feds-seize-another-2-1-mill...

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saraid216 4490 days ago
I like how you jump to thought policing as your gut reaction.
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