“ We were aware that some criminal elements were focusing in on creating a next gen version of the Silk Road.“ the FBI stated to Bitcoinist a couple days ago. “Like all new things, and the digital currency is something new, there are always opportunistically criminal elements that try to worm their way in. We let them bathe in the false sense of security long enough to collect data so we can prosecute the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law”.
“ The FBI and other security and police forces from all over the world are sending out a clear message to the criminals using these “bazaars”: We will be watching and we will find you regardless how good you think you are. If need be we will take out the trash so to speak. We want to send a powerful message that “we can play at your level”. Follow the law, don’t do anything illegal and you do not have anything to worry about”.
This is a clear sign that the police organisations will not tolerate these kinds of criminal behavior. We can only applaud these actions because it is a black mark on the digital currencies. As a community we also need to speak out against these kinds of behavior. It does more damage to the crypto community. By allowing the criminal elements to run amok we are providing the “anti-digital currency groups” with a lot of “ammunition” to use against the community. 99.99% of the Bitcoin and crypto communities are good people that have innovative thoughts and ideas. Look at Bitpay or at Swarm for example.
However there are other sites that offer the same businesses and illegal activities. “The FBI and homeland security, along with their allies, are monitoring the situation but rest assured that we will act on the right time and place. Make no mistake these other criminal sites will be targeted in the near future.”
Nevertheless the FBI also stated that “the upcoming digital currency community does not have to fear any actions towards them. We are only after the criminal elements and will continue to do so to make every community, if it is in the real or the digital world, a safer place.”