Ensuring the law is not bitten by Bitcoin

Whenever evidence shows up in another country US law enforcement must follow the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty(MLAT) procedure to get assistance from foreign agencies. The case when DOJ being spotted in litigation with Microsoft over whether the DOJ has the jurisdiction to get data kept at an Irish based Microsoft data center with a search warrant. Microsoft is arguing that the DOJ may not use a search warrant to get data kept overseas. DOJ must go through the same MLAT procedure. That is not a problem with Blockchain as you can access it all over the world with no need for MLAT.

The Silk Road case has demonstrated how the law enforcement organizations are already quite capable of tracing transactions using the Blockchain. Carl Force was the DEA, who was accused of stealingBitcoins during the Silk Road investigation. Among the exhibits presented in the case was a chart showing how law enforcement tracked the funds through the Blockchain despite the fact that Carl Force tried to split the transactions across numerous addresses.

Law enforcement is good for Bitcoin

Bitcoin can't continue to be the criminal currency, particularly for monetizing ransomware viruses. It's crucial that the Blockchain becomes a place criminals don't feel secure.

That is why people interested in the Blockchain should help law enforcement learn and grab hold of the technology. A good way to accomplish this will be by making use of a public-private info sharing process used to exchange details about cybersecurity threats.

These dialogues could help create a mechanism for the Bitcoin community to use their knowledge to overcome challenges law enforcement may face while investigating cybercrime.

It's a clear-cut fact that there will always be unlicensed money remitters. It's impossible to fully drive criminals away from the Blockchain or from the Internet in general. What we can do though is to create solutions to make it tougher for illegitimate businesses to prosper. Law enforcement should focus on the areas of Blockchain where criminals keep popping up. People need to work out innovative tactics law enforcement can implement.