THAT’S SHAME.
>>> ALL RIGHT, CRYPTO CRIME.
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEIZING
MORE THAN $3.6 BILLION IN
BITCOIN THIS WEEK THAT WAS
STOLEN IN A HACK BACK IN 2016.
THE NEW YORK COUPLE RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE SCAM HAS BEEN ARRESTED
AND CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO
COMMIT MONEY LAUNDERING.
THIS COMES AS THE POPULARITY AND
IN HACKING OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES
ACTUALLY RISES.
JOINING US NOW TO DISCUSS IS
MICHELE BOND, ASSOCIATION FOR
TINNAL ASSETS MARKET CEO.
THANKS FOR JOINING ME.
SO GIVESENDGO GIVES $8
MILLION -- GETS $8 MILLION FROM
DONORS TO THE TRUCKERS.
I BELIEVE THAT TALLY COIN HAD A
WAY TO GIVE BITCOIN TO THE
TRUCKERS, AND IF THEY DID IT
THAT WAY, IT CAN’T BE SEIZED, AM
I RIGHT?
>> SO THE UNIQUE PART ABOUT
BITCOIN IS THAT IT’S ON THE
BLOCKCHAIN.
SO THAT’S WHAT’S INCREDIBLE.
IT’S ABLE TO BE TRACED, AND
THAT’S WHY LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS
ABLE TO FIND ALL OF THE BITCOIN,
ESSENTIALLY.
SO IT WAS VERY INTERESTING
BECAUSE WITH THIS CASE IN 2016
IT WAS 120,000 BITCOIN THAT THEY
STOLE, AND IT WAS WORTH ABOUT
$73 MILLION BACK THEN.
OBVIOUSLY, THE PRICE OF BITCOIN
HAS GONE UP SUBSTANTIALLY, SO
THAT ACTUALLY INFLATED TO A HUGE
PRICE TAG OF $4.5 BILLION.
AND BECAUSE OF THE TRACEABILITY
AND BECAUSE OF THE VERY, VERY
SENSITIVE AND THE ANALYTICS THAT
CAN BE DONE ON BITCOIN AND
BLOCKCHAIN, LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS
ABLE TO SEIZE 3.5 BILLION BACK.
SO THIS WAS A REALLY, REALLY
INCREDIBLE CASE FOR THE DOJ, FOR
THE FBI.
IT’S ACTUALLY THE BIGGEST CASE
THAT THE DOJ HAS EVER BROUGHT
WITH, THE LARGEST SEIZURE THAT’S
HAPPENED IN AMERICAN HISTORY,
AND THAT’S ALL BECAUSE OF CRYPTO
AND BLOCKCHAIN CAPABILITY.
SEAN: IT’S INTERESTING BECAUSE I
CAN BE ANONYMOUS, YOU KNOW,
HOLDING BITCOIN OR CRYPTO IN MY
WALLET, BUT THE BLOCKCHAIN IS
PUBLIC, RIGHT?
AND SO IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE AS
PEOPLE ATTACK CRYPTOCURRENCIES,
THIS WAS PROBABLY A WAY TO
RECOVER THIS THEFT WHERE IF IT
WAS STOLEN IN CASH, IT PROBABLY
NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.
>> THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT.
AND THAT’S WHY I THINK LAW
ENFORCEMENT REALLY LIKES CRYPTO
BECAUSE THERE IS A TRACEABILITY
COMPONENT.
AND YOU CAN SEE, YOU CAN SEE THE
FUNDS.
I MEAN, YOU CAN SEE THE BITCOIN
MOVE FROM WALLET ADDRESS TO
WALLET ADDRESS AND THE PRIVATE
KEYS.
AND IT’S REALLY AN INCREDIBLE
TECHNOLOGY THAT IS EXTREMELY
HELP.
YOU’RE -- HELPFUL.
YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, IF THIS
HAD BEEN CASH, THE MONEY WOULD
HAVE BEEN GONE.
AND, I MEAN, THIS COUPLE, THEY
WERE YOUNG, THEY WERE ACTUALLY,
YOU KNOW, IN THEIR 20s WHEN
THEY DID THIS.
THEY WERE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW,
BREACH AN EXCHANGE, TAKE THE
BITCOIN, AND THEY THOUGHT THEY
WERE RUNNING OFF WITH IT.
THEY WERE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
THIS NEW YORK CITY.
IT WAS FASCINATING THAT, YOU
KNOW, THEY HAD ALL THESE, LIKE,
TIKTOK VIDEOS AND RAP VIDEOS AND
LIVING IN THIS SORT OF, LIKE,
ARTISTIC WORLD, AND THEY WERE
CAUGHT.
SEAN: THEY’RE CRIMINALS.
GOOD ON LAW ENFORCEMENT.
SO, LISTEN, AS YOU KNOW, I LOVE
CRYPTO.
I KEEP INVESTING --
>> ME TOO.
SEAN: -- IN CRYPTO.
MY WIFE HAS TO SAY, STOP, NO
MORE, YOU’RE DONE.
BUT WHY SHOULD OUR VIEWERS CARE
ABOUT CRYPTO?
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
>> CRYPTO IS INCREDIBLE.
I MEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS
NOW, ABOUT 15-20% OF THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC NOW OWNS CRYPTO.
SEAN: WOW.
>> THAT NUMBER IS STAGGERING.
AND THERE’S A WHOLE HOST OF
REASONS FOR IT.
ONE OF THEM IS BECAUSE, YOU
KNOW, IT DISINTERMEDIATES.
YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE A BANK.
YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE -- YOU
CAN BE YOUR OWN BANK.
YOU CAN ACTUALLY INVEST AND HAVE
MORE CHOICE IN WHAT YOU DO WITH
YOUR MONEY, AND YOU CAN MAKE
TRANSACTION AS YOURSELF.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO RELY ON ANYONE
ELSE.
IT’S ALL ABOUT
DISINTERMEDIATION, PEER-TO-PEER
TRANSACTIONS, AND YOU JUST HAVE
SO MUCH MORE CONTROL WHEN THERE
ISN’T THAT INTERMEDIARY.
SO I THINK THERE ARE A WHOLE
HOST OF DIFFERENT USE CASES THAT
PEOPLE ARE USING FOR CRYPTO, BUT
I THINK, YOU KNOW, JUST TO HAVE
CONTROL OVER YOUR PRIVATE
FINANCES IS A BIG ONE.
AND I THINK ALSO A, YOU KNOW,
WHEN YOU LOOK AT CRYPTO IN THE
UNITED STATES, LIKE, IT’S
AMERICAN INNOVATION.
IT’S, YOU KNOW, IT CREATES JOBS,
IT CREATES A BIGGER TAX BASE,
CONSUMER CHOICE.
I MEAN, THERE’S --
SEAN: AND, MICHELLE, MOST OF
IT’S IN AMERICA, RIGHT?
>> YES.
SEAN: I THINK WHAT’S
INTERESTING, IN 1997, I DIDN’T
KNOW HOW THIS THING WOULD CHANGE
MY LIFE, BUT IT HAS.
I THINK BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTO IS
GOING TO CHANGE OUR LIFE.
MICHELE BOND, THANKS FOR JOINING