Time is a Wheel - A few thoughts from an OG

Well, here we are again friends. Another major market is gone and millions worth of coins are in the wallets of criminals or LE, although the boundary between the two is often hazy. Once again centralized escrow and lazy opsec are ruining peoples lives and causing pointless anxiety. Once again people are drawing a line in the sand and saying "no more centralized escrow! We demand multi-sig!". And once again the greater population of rubes is complaining about having to learn multi-sig, and whining about doing their own PGP encryption.

None of this is new. If you've been around since SR1, then you know that time is a fucking wheel. We've been fighting these same battles since that first seizure. We fought it again when SR2 was hacked, and then again after Onymous, and again after Evo. Check my post history and you'll see that I've been advocating for a better way for years now, and it never happens. Everyone waxes poetic about how great AB was, but they were shit. Nothing innovative in their design or function. They were a tragedy waiting to happen. Every single market with centralized escrow is a tragedy waiting to happen. Time is a wheel.

Whether or not AB was taken down or exit scammed, the flood of users to a new market is an opsec nightmare. I can promise you that LE is analyzing TOR traffic patterns and doing their best to unmask Dream. If I were running that market, I would be moving my servers regularly. Remember how often Agora used to be down? There was a reason for that.

Fent is bringing the angry fist of god down onto the markets, and rightfully so. As a community, we need to put fent in the same category as kiddie porn. If you're a junkie, I feel for you. But dope addicts have existed for a hundred years without Fent and they got high just fine. As long as Fent is allowed on the DNM, it's going to continue making headlines and it's going to continue bringing heat.

Be safe out there, people. Maybe take a little vacation from the scene. My spidey senses tell me that there are more dark times ahead. USPS is stepping up their game, and the new US government is going to pour money into a newly focused war on drugs. Jeff Sessions isn't fucking around and he's going to change the rules of the game. Time is a wheel.


Comments


[44 Points] ThrowAway20696:

Fuck fent, fuck weapons and fuck the feds.


[12 Points] Acid-HeadFred:

somoeone should open up a market that sells only child porn, guns and hitmen services also deals fent. then they can be the main focus always and know this without a doubt and be one step ahead and move servers all over the world and have new ones ready to go if theres a raid it could work out


[9 Points] Kokira:

I just hope hansa opens up registration soon. If they had been able to handle new users from the getgo they could have scooped up a lot of people who will probably move to dream and stay there.


[7 Points] whoiiinvitedthisguy:

Okay. So you're saying we need to learn multi sig?

And that is some tin foil hat shit that they are watching Tor servers trying to find dream market.

I 100% agree that alphabay was a disaster waiting to happen and knew they would exit scam maybe just not in the peak of things rn. Who knows if LE got them or not


[5 Points] MandyThatGirl:

Time is a wheel like the midieval torture device that one is slowly broken on... :(


[3 Points] FreeRossUlbricht:

Im on board with you about everything except the Fentanyl. I believe all drugs should be legal and unregulated.


[1 Points] divvd:

When you say fent are you referring to fentanyl?


[2 Points] 12InchesOfSlave:

it's funny how hard some people try to make others' problems their own. enjoy the low hanging fruit, them not putting in the effort to practise good opsec is just making it easier for you to slip through the cracks


[2 Points] Hi_Im_New_Here___:

i'm so torn on the issue of fent. in theory i am strongly behind the concept that the whole point of DNM is for the community to monitor and shape the markets thru testing and feedback. in practice i see so much destruction and LE heat as a result of fent and its analogues. it is so hard to justify their presence in the name of a principle.

i guess our role as thinking humans is to understand both extreme sides and then to find a practical solution that maintains the theoretical spirit while still actively working towards safety, harm reduction, choice, and independence.

this reminds me a bit of the often discussed right to free speech and the example of someone yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. you have the right to say anything you want, but you also have the responsibility to own the consequences of exercising your right. those who shout out that "i can say whatever the fuck i want" need to understand that speech can be a catalyst for others to take action. if exercising your right prompts action, you're on the hook and it's up to you to justify "whatever the fuck" you want.

of course there will be some issues with a ban - people still spiking drugs and/or selling presses, then creating a new account and doing it again.

one concept i thought of is to have a very large vendor bond - big enough to prompt thought and strategy due to cost, but not so big that small vendors can't afford it. after benchmarks, whether they be # of sales or amount of time or feedback metrics, part of the high bond is returned to the vendor. for example, every 30 days $xxx from the bond is return.

the honest truth is that someone who can't afford a $2,000 (just an example) bond, shouldn't be an internet drug dealer. any business needs some startup capital. this bond can weed out those who are on the sidelines scheming a quick hit and run.

i disagree philosophically with banning a product, but damn there has been so much death and destruction. the fact that some of this shit has been used as a biological weapon and can kill you for being in the same room (ever seen a 2 year old sitting at a table - touching and tasting everything in site?), something needs to be done.

whatever markets do - please be consistent and really plan this out. think of potential situations that result from your restrictions. so many of them can be positive. but these moves need to be proactively mapped out, and not quickly put out as a reaction to the drama of the day.


[1 Points] poolsharkz:

I'm an opiate addict, luckily I don't have to supply my habit from the dnm, but I will even agree. Fent is most certainly bringing a level of heat that just isn't worth it. It's obviously being insanely targeted.. at the least they should just take it off market to DD's and such. I'd feel like a constant huge target as a dnm fent dealer.. not worth the heat! Preach on OP!


[1 Points] None:

Fuck the Feds.


[1 Points] sqwadlyfe:

my friend died august 2016 from fent his parents found him in the basement still warm


[1 Points] Medacali:

The most real post on this sub. It should've been sticky'd


[1 Points] dragnet3:

I counted time is a wheel 5 times, This almost sounded like a fucking haiku poem.


[-5 Points] C66HH12OO6:

All you guys trip about guns and fent. The only real things that needs to be banned are child porn and stolen identities/cc info/ personal information. Those affect innocent and undeserving people.