The Joy of Theft

Discussion in 'Financial Cents' started by UncleMorgan, Jun 25, 2021.


  1. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    The largest cash robbery in U. S. history took place in 1997 when six men robbed the Dunbar Armored facility of 18.9 million dollars in cash.

    They didn't quite get away with it.

    One of them got sloppy and sent a relative a little stolen cash--still wrapped in the original Dunbar cash straps.

    They were soon identified and arrested.

    That is far from the largest robbery that has ever taken place in the United States. In 1972 the United California Bank was robbed of about 30 million dollars in mixed cash and valuables by another gang of six men who dynamited the vault.

    They, also, were sloppy. They over-tipped a taxi driver and left fingerprints is a townhouse they rented to set up the heist. They wound up in the slammer before they could get the really serious partying started.

    Frankly, the only thing many people love more than stealing is stealing more.

    Two brothers in South Africa recently absconded with $3.6 billion in Bitcoins. It was an inside job: they were the founders of Africrypt, a Bitcoin investment house.

    They looted the accounts and dispersed the Bitcoins into anonymous wallets, but have neither fled nor been arrested. Under South African law Bitcoins are not considered financial products. Ultimately, civil suits may drive them into bankruptcy, but because the stolen Bitcoins cannot be traced or seized, they certainly won't go broke.

    There have been several other Bitcoin heists in recent years, and very little of the loot has ever been recovered.

    That's because Bitcoins don't exist other than as disembodied data that anonymous people will happily buy. After all, while the validity of a Bitcoin can be established, its history cannot.

    Unlike cash, you can't hide a stack of bitcoins under your mattress or stash it in your freezer and guard it with an Elmer Fudd gun.

    In the final analysis, Bitcoins are nothing more than electronic promises. And they can be electronically broken.

    Hmmm. Let's see: Gold, or Bitcoins? Bitcoins, or gold?

    I think I'll go with gold. That way anyone that wants to steal it has to do so live and in person.

    In my opinion, the only thing that trumps the Joy of Theft is the Joy of Shotgun.

    I'm so glad I have a backhoe!
     
    oldawg, Bishop, Bandit99 and 9 others like this.
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