Why haven't any darknetmarkets sponsored some sort of scholarships program?
Why not use their massive profits to generate goodwill and send some kids to college?
Take DPR for example. He had 144,000 bitcoin seized from him, worth $28.5million at the time of seizure (if my numbers are off please feel free to correct).
Imagine the goodwill he could have generated, SENDING KIDS TO COLLEGE ON WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A TAX ON DRUGS. What better way to show that ending the war on drugs could be used to benefit society.
Let's say he only put 10% of that $28.5million towards scholarships. That's $2.85million. Assuming an average total cost of a four year degree is $100,000, that's 28 kids he could have sent to school on full scholarships. Many many more, if he felt so inclined. And why not, it's not like he had any realistic chance of laundering $28.5million in bitcoin, at least not in the US and most developed nations.
And plus, if a darknetmarket operator gets busted, as DPR did, it's a lot harder for the government to vilify you when you've sent dozens of kids to school on full ride scholarships.
Of course, there would have to be some sort of process to select worthy candidates and to ensure the funds are used to pay for school, but I feel pretty confidently that it could be worked out.
And it wouldn't have to be just for scholarships, it could be used to send people to rehab, or any other cause deemed to be worthy.
Why hasn't this been done yet?
Thoughts or input?
I'd be especially interested to hear from DNM owners.
I am a vendor and I can say personally I donate to a few causes including the tor network and others I feel benefit the community as a whole but the chances of me giving any percentage of my money to someone I dont know so they can go to college is 0. I risk my freedom to make money for me and the people around me, not some random person looking for a handout. It may sound harsh but the person who expects me to pay for them to go to college, if they went to law school and I got arrested would they take my case pro bono? I dont think so. And as for rehab, I sell drugs I am not going to pay to lose customers, that makes no sense. I may sound like a dick but the people who run markets and are vendors are here to make money not win humanitarian awards.