Doktor Bitcoin, P2P müümise eest vangi mõistetud, hoiatab teisi, et nad on järgmised

In 2011, journalist and tech entrepreneur Mark Hopkins shared dinner with a longtime friend who offered to pay for his half of the meal by sending Hopkins some newly-minted bitcoin, which the friend had mined himself on his laptop. In a recent telephone interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Hopkins quipped that he had never heard of the world’s first peer-to-peer cryptocurrency before, but “being a good nerd myself,” he had his laptop with him and downloaded the needed hardware to accept the offer (about half a bitcoin to cover a coffeehouse meal — “13 or 14 bucks’” worth of magic internet money — if you were wondering).

That transaction began a years-long journey down the Bitcoin rabbit hole for Hopkins, launching an “O.G.” path which included adopting the online teaching persona of Doctor Bitcoin, saades asepresidendiks Geosyni kaevandamine (based in Fort Worth, Texas) and selling his personally-mined bitcoin for many years to interested parties, in person for cash or through completely above-board bank wires.

Hopkins said that his interest in selling bitcoin was “mostly to meet people” for networking purposes, and that he rarely bothered to profit except on the largest deals, but instead focused on turning higher-net-worth buyers into long-term clients for his marketing company.

Hopkins noted that at the time, there was “no federal guidance at all” regarding bitcoin sales, so he regularly sought counsel from Texas lawmakers, who assured him (and published 2017’ Memorandum 1037 stating) that they would not be requiring licenses or regulating the sale of bitcoin in the state. In fact, they encouraged Hopkins and others to “bring innovation to Texas,” Hopkins said.

Ometi 5. septembril Hopkins teatas via his Twitter account that he would be reporting to the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institute “for the crime of selling #Bitcoin a few years ago.”

“Kingpink loterii kelmuses”

Arreteerimine tekitas küsimusi selle kohta, millise kuriteo Hopkins täpselt toime pani, eriti kui ta oli saanud Texase seadusandjatelt kinnituse, et ta tegutseb seaduste piires.

2019. aastal avaldas USA rahandusministeeriumi föderaalne büroo Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) 18 USC 1960, which requires that the now well-known “money transmitters’ license” be obtained by those who wish to sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to the public, with a suggested penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment for selling bitcoin without obtaining the license. This is the crime that Hopkins said he is now serving time for, but selling bitcoin is not the activity that originally caught the attention of federal law enforcement.

Hopkins reports that one of his past clients was under observation for suspected participation in a Nigerian lottery scam. The buyer originally told Hopkins that she was buying bitcoin “for her husband’s electronic repair business” (he believed her at the time), although she later told investigators that she was herself “being catfished by a Nigerian,” according to Hopkins.

Charitably described by Hopkins as “an unsophisticated user,” he not only sold bitcoin to this client on around 20 separate occasions, he also patiently aided and educated her in best custody practices, as well as how to not “trigger” banking problems by using specific terms which could result in closure of her bank account (which is a fairly common occurrence and known concern for Bitcoin enthusiasts, particularly at that time). According to Hopkins, Prosecutors later disingenuously charged him with teaching this woman “how to commit bank fraud.”

On suspicion of Hopkins somehow being “a kingpin in a lottery scam” because of the amounts of money “flowing to” him, Hopkins’ family home was subjected to a raid by “15 armed agents, who waved guns and search warrants…” and who confiscated over $60,000 worth of his personal property, Hopkins said.

Being cooperative and “fully transparent” during the raid, Hopkins said that he informed the federal agents of his public Doctor Bitcoin and professional LinkedIn profiil, and he shared details of his past consulting work with multiple U.S. governmental agencies (including the Federal Reserve) on bitcoin and blockchain technology. Hopkins claimed that he even explained in person to the raiding agents some best practices for using bitcoin wallets (e.g., auto-generating new addresses at random with every new use), finding himself quite surprised that agents of this white-collar crime division were not already well-versed in such tech.

Tuginedes oma volikirjadele ja töö iseloomule (ja eriti tema süütuks tunnistatud loteriikelmuses, mida tegelikult uuriti), oli Hopkins kindel, et need agendid saavad peagi aru, et neil on "kindlasti vale mees" ja nad isegi vabandavad. .

Hopkins nendib aga nüüd, et "tõenäoliselt juhtus" see, et "nad kulutasid nii palju ressursse 15 agenti ühe mehe majja saatmiseks, et lahendada suur kuritegu, ja tuli tühjana, nii et nad pidid leidma midagi, milles olin süüdi". vältima muna näkku ja et tema nimetatud kuriteoks sai "rahaülekannete ettevõtte tegutsemine ilma litsentsita, tuginedes FinCENi poolt umbes aasta varem antud ebamäärastele juhistele".

Juhtumi edenedes ütleb Hopkins, et "nad otsustasid mitte tulla just pärast mind, vaid mu naist, kuna ta oli minu pangakontol", ähvardades neid mõlemaid "mitte ainult rahaülekandega seotud kuriteoga", vaid ka temale antud pangaga seotud nõuannete pärast. klient, mis võib kaasa tuua 35-aastase vangistuse nii härra kui ka proua Hopkinsile.

"Valitsus võitleb käte, hammaste ja küüntega"

Hopkins now believes the agents are guilty of “prosecutorial misconduct or extortion, depending upon how you want to look at it” for offering to leave his wife and three children out of the proceedings if he agreed to plead guilty to selling bitcoin without the required money transmitters’ license. But he added that, despite defending what’s right or wrong, “I can’t leave my family (or) take a gambit like that; my family comes first regardless of what my principles are.” And so he accepted the plea deal.

Pärast süüdimõistmist kasutab Hopkins oma Twitteri kontot ja meediaintervjuusid, et hoiatada teisi "riikliku privaatsussõja ja kriminaalõigussüsteemi üldise purunemise eest".

 „Ma mõtlen, et alusta Rossist (Ulbricht); alusta (Julian) Assange'iga; alusta (Edward) Snowdeniga. Vaadake, mis toimub Tornado Cashi arendajaga (Aleksei Pertsev), Monero eemaldamist erinevatelt börsidelt (ja) iga katset suurendada privaatsust – ja mitte ainult krüptovaluuta puhul –, vaid krüptograafiat üldiselt viimase 20–30 aasta jooksul. Valitsus võitleb selle vastu käsi, hambad ja küüned. See hakkab ausalt öeldes vanaks jääma, sest meiesugused... satuvad risttulesse.

Calling for “separation of money and state,” Hopkins warned that because the Bitcoin blockchain is a permanent record, more government forces (including the äsja töötajatega Internal Revenue Service) will be coming for many more Bitcoiners based on old transaction history if they do not contact their legislators and “hold their feet to the fire” to protect existing First Amendment principles and privacy laws. He warned that 18 USC 1960 (the money transmitters’ license requirement) is an “existential threat… It is there every time someone transacts peer-to-peer … such as buying a truck with bitcoin, or if I split dinner with you and you pay for your half with bitcoin, you’re committing a federal crime.”

Ta ütles, et 18 USC 1960. aasta krüptovaluutaga seotud kuriteo menetlemisel on väga selgelt näha, et see on tõusnud. Süüdistuse või süüdistuse esitajate sihtmärgiks on "suuremate kuritegude puhul eemaldumine". Justiitsministeerium,“ väitis Hopkins, omab „kliinikuid selle kohta, kuidas seadust liberaalsemalt kohaldada“.

Lisaks oma juhtumi esiletõstmisele on Hopkins nüüd aktiivselt seotud FreeRossDAO (working to free Ulbricht, who founded early Bitcoin darknet marketplace Silk Road, from prison). Hopkins said that Ulbricht is “a martyr,” whose legal situation far outweighs his own, saying, “I sold some bitcoin, I used money in a way that government didn’t like. My life is crappy today but … it’ll be better in a year. But Ross will still be in prison.”

"Kui me … ei nõua oma valitsuselt, et nad seda seadust ja selle rakendamist muudaksid, võivad nad aja jooksul meist igaühe järele tulla," lisas Hopkins.

Hopkinsi poeg hoiab oma isa Twitteri kontot, kuni Hopkins kannab karistust.

This is a guest post by Guy Malone. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.