Why is nobody talking about the recent bust in Germany and how/why that could be connected to the Evo Exit Scam?

Seriously just days before BTC transfers stopped taking place, the German police seized a HUGE amount of drugs and busted Shiny-Flakes on Evo.

Why is nobody talking about the possibility that Evo's shutdown is related to this?

I find the timing more than just a little odd. I don't know how it plays in and what correlation it has to the shutdown but I have to believe that there is at least a small chance that its related.

Also besides DeepThroat and others claiming to have "inside knowledge" what evidence do we have that it was an exit scam? What if these guys are LE and using this as a motive to explain the sudden re-appearance of Evo (because they caved to pressure rather than risk being doxxed) and then all of you go log onto the site that has some kind of Tor de-cloaking technique and then all you ass-holes suddenly get swatted.

I'm not saying that this is the case. I'm just surprised I haven't seen anyone at least talking about the German Bust of Shiny-Flakes.

EDIT: Link to the wired article http://www.wired.com/2015/03/evolution-shiny-flakes-bust-heroin-cocaine-silk-road/


Comments


[11 Points] gwern:

What if these guys are LE and using this as a motive to explain the sudden re-appearance of Evo (because they caved to pressure rather than risk being doxxed) and then all of you go log onto the site that has some kind of Tor de-cloaking technique and then all you ass-holes suddenly get swatted.

Because such a thing has never happened, ever, and why would LE carefully shut down a market to make it look like an exit scam as much as possible and then bring it back up and hope people log in...?


[10 Points] GrandWizardsLair:

The Grand Wizard thinks it is possible that Kimble and Verto were spooked by something. Let's say, for example, they got a visit from Homeland Security agents asking about a recent order of fake IDs. Where Ross Ulbricht poo-pooed this -- and was arrested not long afterwards -- Kimble and Verto decided discretion was the better part of valor. Taking the bitcoins and running, after a couple days without withdrawals to add more to the till, was safer than continuing to run the site or even unwinding gracefully.

Did they plan to exit from the beginning? Anybody running a DNM at this point has to consider what to do when the heat is on. And that may well mean shutting things down abruptly and leaving some people without their bitcoins. They may have intended to do that as soon as LE started closing in: if they were smart they definitely did. (Leaving the shop open a few more days to earn more btc would still be a dick move).

Backopy saw the writing on the wall and got out before he became the focus of LE attention. Not every DNM operator will be so forward-thinking. And when push comes to shove an "exit scam" may be better for all concerned than an FBI seizure.

tl/dr: this is likely to happen again in the future, no matter how reputable the market, any time the operators start to feel they are in danger of arrest.


[6 Points] reverendfrag4:

Law enforcement never almost never hides their major busts. If they'd shut down Evo, they'd be crowing about it from the rooftops for the political and PR capital it'd get them.


[4 Points] Jay-__:

I'm just surprised I haven't seen anyone at least talking about the German Bust of Shiny-Flakes.

http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2ys6xi/shinyflakes_bust_update_now_with_pictures_38/

http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2ytx8q/complaintwarning_shiny_flakes_several_thousand/


[2 Points] rssianwarhead:

They've probably been planning this exit scam long before shiny flakes even joined Evo.


[1 Points] lnsaf:

we were all talking about it up until the evo closure. Priorities, man. We can only handle one topic at a time


[1 Points] None:

Whether or not this turns out to be true it's extremely important that we all begin to think like this. Consider all of the possible bad outcomes/potential traps. When your advisory is an entity that can take away your freedom, I think every possible precaution is necessary. I know even using the markets entails a risk & there's never a guarantee that you won't get caught, but if you're risking your freedom you want to minimise every possible chance of getting caught and I don't think that can be overemphasised.


[1 Points] IMBastian:

This is a great summary about the year after Ross Ulbrichts busting. https://www.teleschirm.info/150/241/ein-jahr-nach-dem-silk-road-bust/


[0 Points] None:

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