US Government Will Auction Bitcoins; NYC Fireman Robbed Of His Bitcoins

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

[From article]

Bitcoin, the technology that’s meant to revolutionize the way we think of money, is simultaneously revolutionizing the way we get mugged.

A New York City firefighter named Dwayne Richards was recently held up, stabbed and robbed by thieves who were after his bitcoin, the Observer has learned. From what we’ve discovered, Mr. Richards, who is a firefighter in lower Manhattan, was mugged and left bleeding after meeting the robbers under the pretense of exchanging bitcoin for cash in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He’s alive, well, and refusing comment.

Dwayne Richards, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
(Photo: Getty)

But robbing someone of his bitcoin in person can be an astonishingly effective way to make off with vast sums of capital quickly and untraceably. And Mr. Richards is far from the first to fall victim to bitcoin-related brutality.Typically, when we hear of bitcoin-related crimes, it’s a white-collar affair—millions of dollars going missing from an overseas exchange, or a plucky enthusiast finding himself in an international money-laundering scheme.

http://observer.com/2015/02/bitcoin-crime-wave-breaks-out-in-nyc/

Bitcoin Crime Wave Breaks Out in NYC
NYC firefighter kidnapped, robbed and stabbed by crypto thieves
By Jack Smith IV

02/20/15 9:54am
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Bitcoin is growing in popularity as a way of quickly and safely moving money. But that also makes the job of a thief much more lucrative and efficient. 

(Photo: Getty)
[From article]
The U.S. government on Wednesday said it plans to auction 50,000 bitcoins on March 5, following the recent criminal conviction of Ross Ulbricht for being the mastermind behind the online black market known as Silk Road.
The auction being conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service is the third for bitcoins seized in connection with Silk Road, which prosecutors said let customers buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods beneath the radar of law enforcement.
A federal jury in Manhattan on Feb. 4 found Ulbricht guilty of narcotics and other charges for helping to enable about $200 million of anonymous online drug sales using bitcoins.
Prosecutors said Ulbricht, 30, had run Silk Road under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts” before the website was shut down in October 2013.

http://nypost.com/2015/02/18/us-will-auction-nearly-12m-in-bitcoins-from-silk-road/

US will auction nearly $12M in bitcoins seized from Silk Road
By Reuters
New York Post
February 18, 2015 | 4:20pm