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Comment by rayiner | Hacker News Reader

I think it's a look into what he world looks like without social norms. The folks stealing bitcoins probably would never take $200 out of grandma's purse when she wasn't looking. Society has acculturated people to understand that's bad. But butcoin is novel, and doesn't have social norms surrounding it. It doesn't feel the same as taking money out of a purse.

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I would argue that many of the recently publicized actions of the government in general provide a look into what the world looks like without social norms.

The folks stealing bitcoins probably would never take $200 out of grandma's purse...

You're probably right, and that would be great if agents primarily came into contact with grandmas and their purses. However, these individuals were employed to investigate successful criminal enterprises. It is very doubtful that this is the first time they've had an opportunity to steal from the wealthy target of a criminal investigation.

I think your theory might be a tad overly optimistic with regards to the character of these officers.

I think the amount of infrastructure they set up to execute the crime indicates complete understanding of the law. That is very different from committing a crime because one's adherence to social norms makes them think it isn't a "real crime".

As the guy above said, I don't think it's particularly novel about Bitcoin, rather that the temptation of something that has a large amount of value will always make a few give in. These guys may not have stolen from a grandma, but would feel less inhibited stealing from what they ostensibly view as criminal's money.

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