Bitcoin is designed to be anonymous.
Not true.
Bitcoin is meant to be pseudonymous. There's a difference.
From the Bitcoin wiki:
Quote
While the Bitcoin technology can support strong anonymity, the current implementation is usually not very anonymous.
- http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/AnonymityIf it were anonymous, Goat's 400 BTC would still be gone:
- http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=82600.0
- http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=113389.0 <-- Another example.
And if Bitcoins were anonymous, this wouldn't be possible:
- http://toolongdidntread.com
Now as far as it being possible to use bitcoin in an anonymous manner, can you identify a single thief from the following?
1. MyBitcoin Theft (1110544 $)
2. Allinvain Theft (502750.20 $)
3. July 2012 Bitcoinica Theft (305200 $)
4. Bitfloor Theft (248088 $)
5. Linode Hacks (230468 $)
6. Bitomat.pl Loss (236000 $)
7. Stefan Thomas Loss (128000 $)
8. Tony Silk Road Scam (100000 $)
9. May 2012 Bitcoinica Hack (91306.46 $)
10. Bitcoin7 Hack (50000 $)
11. June 2011 Mt. Gox Incident (46970.91 $)
12. BTC-E Hack (42000 $)
13. Mooncoin Theft (24000 $)
14. Betcoin Theft (15509 $)
15. February 2012 Bitcoinica Theft (15000 $)
16. Bitcoin Syndicate Theft (12134.61 $)
16. Ubitex Scam (11668.70 $)
17. Andrew Nollan Scam (10978 $)
18. October 2011 Mt. Gox Loss (8115.12 $)
19. Bitscalper Scam (5000 $)
2. Allinvain Theft (502750.20 $)
3. July 2012 Bitcoinica Theft (305200 $)
4. Bitfloor Theft (248088 $)
5. Linode Hacks (230468 $)
6. Bitomat.pl Loss (236000 $)
7. Stefan Thomas Loss (128000 $)
8. Tony Silk Road Scam (100000 $)
9. May 2012 Bitcoinica Hack (91306.46 $)
10. Bitcoin7 Hack (50000 $)
11. June 2011 Mt. Gox Incident (46970.91 $)
12. BTC-E Hack (42000 $)
13. Mooncoin Theft (24000 $)
14. Betcoin Theft (15509 $)
15. February 2012 Bitcoinica Theft (15000 $)
16. Bitcoin Syndicate Theft (12134.61 $)
16. Ubitex Scam (11668.70 $)
17. Andrew Nollan Scam (10978 $)
18. October 2011 Mt. Gox Loss (8115.12 $)
19. Bitscalper Scam (5000 $)