Entrapment has been and always will be a common tactic amongst law enforcement in America.

If they know people wan't prostitutes they will set up fake prostitution stings , if they know people want drugs they will have undercovers selling drugs, if they know people want to launder their illegally gained funds they will set up sting ops that would attract those type of people.

I don't think this is an attack on bitcoin so much,  just another example of police going undercover and offering illegal things/services and then see who bites.

Florida is an ideal pro-dollars state. The reason is, it has lots of retirees who are on Social Security. Retire to Florida the saying used to be. And that's what thousands of elderly people have done.

The state has been living off the money those retirees spend, and neither the retirees or the state want anything to do with a form of trade that could destroy money and their way of life.

Think of it. If Bitcoin became popular, and people started using it in place of money in a big way, we could actually see a collapse of the money system. That would mean the collapse of both the resources for the retired elderly, and the state as well.

While this will not likely happen for some time, Florida is having nothing to do with it. They are "nipping it in the bud" so to speak, and trying to earn some free money off the accused, who probably won't get their money back even if the charges are dropped.

Incompetent politicians and law enforcement always end up blaming the messenger.
Thats why I think bitcoin should have kept a low profile all along.

You missed a key part of the story where the undercover agent told the bitcoin seller that he was going to use the bitcoins to purchase stolen credit card information.  Thats the key part in this case, and probably the only reason an arrest was/could be made.  It's one thing to exchange bitcoins for cash, it's another thing to do it when the buyer specifically tells you he intends to use the bitcoins for illegal reasons and you STILL go through with the trade.

"According to court documents, the agent told Michelhack that he wanted to use the Bitcoins to purchase stolen credit cards online. "
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/02/florida-targets-high-dollar-bitcoin-exchangers/


Like I said earlier, it's a legal form of entrapment and it's something law enforcements do for all sorts of illegal things.  The issue here isn't so much bitcoin , but selling bitcoin to someone who told you they would be used for a crime.

I think your logic is a bit off, even if Florida is truly anti-bitcoin. If Bitcoin became popular, it would still be spent just like money and sales tax would still be collected at the retail level, so Florida would not make any less of their revenue. Only case where Florida would not make revenue, is if laws came down that said Bitcoin is treated as a commodity and therefore when you bought something with it, it would be more so considered a trade of one good for another and no sales tax would be collected in that case (I believe).

What you say is true. However, the use of Bitcoin, being decentralized, would cause such an increase of hard-to-track under-the-table activity, that if it were in widespread use, Bitcoin could change the whole appearance of money movement and trading. It might even cause the PEOPLE to review how they are being misrepresented by all the government officials, none of which obeys his/her oath of office. Nobody who is satisfied with things the way they are wants that.

This is an interesting point and one that I missed the first time I read the story.

If the clerk knows/believes that you are actually planning on using the drill bit to commit a crime? Then yes.

"MICHELHACK'S PHONE NUMBER WAS INCLUDED IN THE POSTING BUT REDACTED IN THIS AFFIDAVIT."

But then they fail to redact his address and phone number from the first page of the affidavit.  How nice.

Crazy stuff.  Attack what is new. BTC