this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
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[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I have to say… even with the Elon influence, I didn’t see that one coming. Ulbricht stole capital from the rich and enabled stuff including human trafficking considered evil by the religious right. But I guess he also stuck it to The Man, for which he is being rewarded.

[–] timewarp@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Human trafficking is considered evil by everyone unless you're a pedo/psychopath

[–] knighthawk0811@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 week ago

now we know why he was pardoned

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Human trafficking was not allowed. Not even CCs were allowed. Silk road didn't let you sell anything that harmed others.

Also, how did Ulbricht steal from the rich?!?

[–] ghost_of_faso3@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If anything he made it easier for the rich to wash their money and buy ketamine

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The site operated on bitcoin. How did it help people wash money?!? Bitcoin is more easily traced than cash. Its a public ledger

[–] ghost_of_faso3@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And it was still quite literally used by 10,000's of vendors to sell illegal drugs?

I dont think it would have even been a thing if it was as easy as you suggest to catch people selling drugs on it. Sure, with enough resources, a dedicated law enforcement team can likely bust a drug dealer using BTC; but like with most things involving drugs and Neo-liberalism, the prisons are all full, the police are underfunded and can only occasionally make token arrests and the people who arent low hanging fruit get in and out without any interaction with the police.

[–] meowMix2525@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

the prisons are all full, the police are underfunded

No way you actually think this is reality. No way enforcement could just be a deeply inefficient way of dealing with crime and the low hanging fruit along with making a show of token arrests is really all they care about.

No lol the country with the largest prison population, that generates private profit by holding its people captive and hands out billions of dollars to police, the DEA and the FBI to capture them, well it just needs to hand out even more billions of dollars of "resources" to these agencies so they can lock up the real criminals and then crime will be properly dealt with!

[–] ghost_of_faso3@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 week ago

No lol the country with the largest prison population, that generates private profit by holding its people captive and hands out billions of dollars to police, the DEA and the FBI to capture them, well it just needs to hand out even more billions of dollars of “resources” to these agencies so they can lock up the real criminals and then crime will be properly dealt with!

The people in prison for dealing drugs arent the same people dealing drugs with bitcoin, you conflate gang members, prescription drug resellers and corner standers with the profile of a typical darknet drug dealer, which arent the same demographics for the most part.

No way you actually think this is reality. No way enforcement could just be a deeply inefficient way of dealing with crime and the low hanging fruit along with making a show of token arrests is really all they care about.

Its the reality in the UK at least, only drug dealers who get caught here are the ones trying to ship in millions of worth of cocaine, the prisons are actually all full here and most drug crimes dont even get charged because the time limit they have to charge people expires by the time the courts become available.

As for the US, it remains a convient excuse for the police to suppress votes from demographics the upper class needs supressed; you wont be finding the people who supply elon musk with ketamine going to prison anytime soon, they will be smart enough to use monero!

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 week ago

He's also partially responsible for why cryptocurrency has any worth at all.

[–] stink@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Did he human traffic? From what I read years ago he didn't allow CP, fake passports, or other things he deemed "unethical", broad statement I know

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 9 points 1 week ago

He did not. This is misinformation. He also didn't sell drugs, other than maybe some mushrooms in the very first days

[–] 000999@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

Human trafficking? Stealing from the rich?
He pioneered an online marketplace for drugs and also tried to have people assassinated (allegedly)