Re: Buying Bitcoins in China

[Charlie]

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So, I’d assume that if you were under investigation for something serious enough, a forensic accountant might be able to trace the money to you eventually. If you took measures such as using mixing services, etc… that might make it much more difficult.

You’re right – it is possible. I just found a very in depth document on this which you can download in PDF format for free: Anonymity in Bitcoin. Downloaded it to my iPad Mini for reading later.

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All transactions are traceable via the blockchain, where they are tagged by I.P. address. You can trace the entire tree.

Incidentally I’ve just seen a transaction for $1.4m US. Naturally curious, I traced it to Satoshi, so I guess those guys are making some money! Interstingly it wasn’t tagged in the blockchain as previous Satoshi transactions have been, but the I.P. traced it to the exact same point of origin.

How do you know what IP address you’re looking at? Many people only transact Bitcoins through a Linux live distribution and then Tor. A few people at our meeting on Saturday said that they only conduct transactions in this way.

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Right. It has no feasability as a steady currency if availability is so limited. If the current formula of block generation remains, it more or less seals the fate of bitoin as a gamble at best.

I have seen nothing that indicates that new, unannounced bitcoins will ever be added to the ecosystem. I believe it has always been interpreted as a gamble, and rightly so.