Bitcoin Forum

Do you know that the existence of Bitcoin has increased crime in some countries in the world? This problem is thrown by the Metropolitan Police of Europe and the United Kingdom. According to them, Bitcoin has played a huge role in their community's growing guilt. They also think that Bitcoin is involved for cybercrime, but how does Bitcoin increase crime work? Why is it being considered illegal in the country?

Bitcoin is legitimately legal in fair use but when criminals are using it to transfer the money untraceable then that will fall into illegal. That is why some Countries are making strict regulations and laws for exchange operators as what happened today when you register through exchange sites, we cannot widthraw our money easily without giving them our full identity.

Does bitcoin legitimate or illegal depends on who is holding it and use it to do something.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

The idea of bitcoin is very good bad if we use this in illegal doing it will ban and bad images in our society. Bitcoin is very helpful to the other people( who are involved) because it gives income when they trade, invest, mining, joining to campaign and etc.,but it this will be use in illegal it will crash and stop by the government.

Maybe some think that it is illegal because they have questions that where this currency came from. It is different from those currency we have in every country bitcoin is for the WORLD that regulates the digital world transactions. Having questions on it's legality when it comes on how the people will use it or where they earned it. Here in forum it's absolutely legit because we know how we earn it and we hardwork for it.

To our knowledge, Bitcoin has not been declared illegal in most countries. Although there are some countries (such as Argentina and Russia) that strictly prohibit foreign currency. Other countries (such as Thailand) restrict certain currency identity permits such as Bitcoin exchange.

I don't like much those threads usually, with a one line question leading to poor answers most of the time...

But here the question is interesting in its contruction and raises what's the main strength of btc that lots of old people can't understand!
You're asking if btc is legitimate or illegal. So you state that legitimate is more or less the contrary of illegal. But fact is that LEGAL and LEGITIMATE are different words for a reason ^^
Something can be illegal AND legitimate and that's mainly what bitcoin is! Or at least what the use of btc as a currency is.

Tons of governments are trying to ban btc as a currency and it is seldom recognized as a "real" currency. But fact is that a currency gains its legitimicy not from laws or rules, but from the use people make of and the trust they have in it.
A dollar in itself is nothing! It represents nothing and doesn't have any meaning. But people accept a dollar because they KNOW other people will also accept dollars and give them roughly the same value. Which is a dollar.

BTC si the same, governments and rules and laws can say wahtever they want but people accept a bitcoin because they know other people will accept the bitcoin and will give them, normally, roughly the same value. And most of them excpect in fact that once they'll try to give their btc for something else (currency, objects...) the value will have rise in fact xD

That's my 2cents on the subject, which is not as easy as it seems

All currencies around the world fund crime. Nothing new here  ???

At present, Bitcoin is only recognized in several countries, such as Japan and South Korea, in China and the United States is still prohibited in some continents, whether the law, over time to look at it.
 :-X

Legitimate = As bitcoin is not controlled by any single entity and no-one can ever break the bitcoin network so yes it should be legit way of making payments.
Illegal = It is being used by criminals and hackers but they also use fiat so why don't government is not banning all paper cash   ;D

Some government/countries don't like to take risk of legalizing bitcoin in their territory only because they have fear that one day their citizen will start to hold their wealth in bitcoin rather than saving them in local banks. Both banks and government will not get any penny from their citizen's hard earned money.

Does tagging bitcoin as illegal thing gonna stop people from using it as payment method? I don't think so, bitcoin is revolution and its just like car which was considered as most dangerous things in past.  ;D ;D

They're probably including the tax evasion when selling and profiting overall with bitcoin. The same thing goes for fiat currencies, bitcoin is just more anonymous. Bitcoin is legal in pretty much the whole world, there are some bans here and there but it's mostly legal.

Well it is simple hing actualy. Bitcoin is hard to track, and it is hard to prove who owns wallet. From that we can see that Bitcoin is almost perfect currency for criminals. But I think that people don't look picture as a whole. Smilar situation happens with fiat currency. Cash is hard to follow also, bu to be honest not as hard as Bitcoin. People look on Bitcoin as something bad or good, but they forget that Bitcoin is like all other money, it is neutral. What we do with it is our choice.

Such topics are constantly emerging, not only on forum but in all the media. Nobody can provide this proof. The fact that there are some cases when the small drug dealers asking for the goods payment in bitcoins or hackers ask for a ransom in bitcoins. It's all a very small number compared to the illegal trafficking of Fiat currency. I am sure that it will not change public opinion about bitcoin.

Really looking at it in some way is not legal when it is used to carry out illegal transactions for offenders.

Restriction of bitcoin used by other countries are made is just because they'll still creating a certain rules and regulations for making it legal. Is just the government call in order to have a concrete resolution towards bitcoin fully adoption in the coming days.
But sadly in some countries didn't make a room for bitcoin in there place and make it totally banned.

Everything has a good and a bad side. I believe the positive side of Bitcoin is far more larger than the negative side of it.

bitcoin has have good intention to help the economy of every country giving job those unemployed, many country accepted bitcoin as first digital cryptocurrency because they understand about the importance of bitcoin even the paper money uses by the criminal people want to commit a crime nothing deferent between bitcoin and paper money use of bad elements.

Governments will note take any risk if they allow Bictoin they must set up more regulation otherwise that cryptocurrency will be consider illegal.
Even if Bitcoin was created in a legal way and does not violate any rule at the moment, only governments decide what is legal or not so only their decisions will be taken into account but we must fight and inform as many people as possible so governments make a fair decision.

Bitcoin is not illegal. Its how it was used for maybe illegal. If it existed years ago and it was already used for exchange or digital currency then how come it existed? Its maybe because those earning it years ago have realize how it make their earnings boost. So now they are afraid that many had used it then they're accusing its legality? The authorities should make regulations on its usage rather than the bitcoin itself because bitcoin is just the evolution of our currencies. We are going into a digital world. We need to go along also.

Bitcoin itself is legal unless your country identified it as illegal.
It's legitimacy depends on the user, if what is his purpose.
If you are asking if it is a legitimate money then the answer is not.
It doesn't have any real value the value that bitcoin has is only from
its demand from the users.

In my country I have not officially launched bitcoin currency, but there are cities in my country that use bitcoin as payment like buying drinks, food, clothes etc. And it's obviously bright not to hide so what do you think?

in my country is still not legended because it still uses a real non-digital currency such as bitcoin, for crime is very possible as a money launderer from irresponsible people, as a fundraiser of criminal activity

I recently saw an article saying that money laundry with bitcoin is actually insignificant and not really a problem. If we talk about cyber crime then it's increasing. I don't think crime has increased because of crypto, and it would probably be interesting to try to estimate the percentage of criminals using bitcoin, and compare it to the percentage of criminals using fiat for their activities. We would probably see that the percentage of criminals using fiat is probably higher than the percentage of criminals using crypto. We need to stop blaming bitcoin, and crypto in general, for crimes because they are popular because of it's practical use and not because it helps crime.

Anyway I do think regulation is doing is slowly doing it's work, and we see that bitcoin is considered illegal in just a few countries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory

I don't think if the legendary founder of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto intends to create it for illegal purpose or usage. It all actually depends on the one who is using Bitcoin in illegal activities. If Bitcoin has been used in illegal activities, how about fiat money? Fiat money has been used in all kinds of illegal activities arround the world thousands of years ago while Bitcoin is just new but due to decentralized feature of Bitcoin, criminals adopted and preffered using Bitcoin because it is hard to trace by law enforcers. Lawless elements took an advantage of Bitcoins security features that's why criminals using Bitcoin is increasing. Well here in my country Bitcoin is not illegal instead it was accepted by central bank though they implemented regulations on our local Bitcoin exchanges. Maybe it was considered illegal in other countries because it may evade tax, money laundering, used to fund terrorists and any other  illegal activities.

It is depend on the country because some are illegal and some are not. I think it is not illegal because even now we use it.

Bitcoin here in my country is become popular here, and because of that theres a lot of us know and some of them use it to have addtional income, but our government is not yet considered it as legit, because they know that many criminal used bitcoin for their illegal activities.

Bitcoin here in my country isn't that popular enough compare to Japan and south Korea. Here it was known by few who are their curiosity leads them to this kind of trading and I'm glad I'm one of them. And yes it isn't that popular enough and I think I considered it as illegal for now that our government also didn't recognize it yet due to may factors that it may turn out. Even though I seen a news from our national television that they taught it was a scam I didn't bother to believe to what I've head and seen because i still believeon bitcoin no matter what.

It's illegal to use bitcoin as money laundering,In China, the exchange of RMB is prohibited

           It is so sad for you, well anyways it doesn't matter, time will only knows what is going to happen in bitcoin. Although lot of speculations that it has a high potential to be successful and be used in the future, there is no guarantee what will happen, it is possible also that it will turn into the opposite, and no one knows about it exactly.

Yes it is truth that the bitcoin growth for the crime activities especially in the countey of europe and germany. We know thay the bitcoin is used for buy everythings in the online. Sometimes in the online market or in black market. Black market is a market that sell parts of a human including kidney heart etc. And because of this they find or theu look for the supplier . and in the one site like deep web. We know that is part of the crime for the bitcoin because this site is illegal.

i think bitcoin is legitimate, it just depends on who is using it for trading

Same also here in my country,I can say that it wasn't legit here in my country nor illegal but I'm sad that they treat bitcoin as a scam but it doesn't sound like what I've known bitcoin was. It was not like it because it is different from what bitcoin forum i am belong so if it was scam for them then for me it wasn't. They said that it was more prone to scam but it doesn't discourage me to believe more on bitcoin. I'd still have faith on what I'm feeling for about bitcoin.

Since bitcoins are untraceable when transacted, it is easy to launder money without any bank or goverment sniffing the criminals out. Decentralization of bitcoins makes bitcoins an easy form of money for cybercriminals to use in their mischiefs. Maybe this is the reason why some countries bar the use of bitcoins, to prevent cyberterrorism.

Is bitcoin legitimate or illegal?
This is an interesting question. Bitcoin could be both legitimate and illegal depending on who is using it, the condition under which they are using it or even the country in which they are using it.

It is legitimate if the parties involved believed in it and accept what value they presume and appropriate to it. That there is agreement that it is a quantity of value makes it a legitimate means of transaction.

Bitcoin is legal if it is not banned or its use restricted in your country. A country such as China, which has placed some restrictions on its use would consider it illegal.

Use of Bitcoin for crime or to conceal proceeds of crime would make it illegal in that circumstance in most countries. So bitcoin is legitimate, it could be legal or illegal depending on the circumstances surrounding its use.

Actually if I think the legitimate bitcoin is legitimate there are only people who judge the bitcoin is illegal and maybe in the corner of their view bitcoin is not clear the weight of the seeds and something, like in my country bitcoin still illegal can not accept bitcoin entry, but bitcoin breakthrough new world modern this, the many technological developments that cangih, I think my country is always backward by this modern era.

Regarding the work of bitcoin depending on what country you are currently in it might be banned or allowed to foster. however when it comes to crime that is actually one of the reasons why it is being banned however it is not to say that it is illegal more that some people are using it to fuel their evil deeds

I believe this is essentially asking the same question: "Is gold legitimate or illegal?", to which the answer is also: legitimate.

Not in all countries my friend and the definition is also an issue. In some countries you can trade it as a commodity, but you

not allowed to accept it as a payment option. All companies have to adhere to the most basic accounting practices and they

have to pay taxes, so filing their taxes and showing that they used Bitcoin, will turn out bad for them. OP, Bitcoin does not

increase crime... people actions increase crime.  :P

yes here in our country bitcoin announce in television a scam source in different ways like in mining and in other transaction i think its so easy for scammers do to that because this is digital no one can trace you but we can do to not involve in any scam site or crime here like search in the site you want to give transaction or we can try first with no invest to secure in scam site

Bitcoins are not accepted for daily payments at shops, services and banks. But the law does not prohibit bitcoin. Bitcoin has not affected the law yet. You like to participate and invest in bitcoin not up to you. Success or failure in digital currency by you.

I didn't hear any crime cases here in my country except that bitcoin was a scam. So maybe here in my country they didn't tell that it was legit nor illegal but a worst case is it has a negative feedback or record here when it comes to our government. But that case didn't bother me at all because its featured about bitcoin Is far enough to what I am belong. So I don't care if what other thought about bitcoin.

Bitcoin being a digital currency, and I must say the well-known money in the internet has gathered bad reputations because of the deep web. It was just my observation because of the people that I have been asked, saying that "Is it the one that they use to trade or to pay in the deep web? That is an illegal money." Some are even afraid to have bitcoin because of it, however bitcoin-ing has been a good part time for me being a student, it helps me in my financial assistance.

Using bitcoin is not illegal in our country and the goverment didn't prohibited us to used this for payment to purchase things. But it makes illegal if someone used the bitcoin in such wrongly manner like for example;
- to do scam people by promising to them impossible return of inbestments with their liitle investment.
- to buy drugs using bitcoin
- to fund illegal activities like terrorism.
-intentionally  hiding your wealth tthrough bitcoin to avoid paying tax.

I do not know, I just do what I want to do in this bitcoin zone.
And I do not know the exact truth .. While we are busy looking for it.

In our country, we call it legit if it's really paying and not a scam. So for me bitcoin is legit, but not yet legalized nor banned in our country. It depends on the user on how he will use it.

Bitcoin legal or illegal? This is a question of perspective av different answers may be gotten on it. To look at the definition of legal can help in classifying BTC as either legal or illegal. To some countries that accept blockchain technology (UAE), BTC can be legal while some countries can  call BTC illegal in their contry (USA). More over, there are some countries with no stand on BTC (Nigeria).

Even, majority of countries that doesn't approve BTC is due to the mining process which has been abused by their citizens.

BTC is legal and illegal. It depends on the authorities in your country.

Bitcoin is totally legal, but some people are using it for their own satisfaction without thinking the result of their wrong doings by using bitcoins.
Other people are using bitcoins for assasination, buying a lot of illegal firearms and mostly use it to buy drugs. Then those wrong doing that the people have done, bitcoin will be blame for everything that supposedly those idiots should be blame for.

as long as there is no prohibition and suggestion using bitcoin it will be better if focus how to get as much bitcoin as possible, because legitimate or illegal depends how we judge and use it to do something

I do not say it is legal and i do not say it is illegal, government are not announce that digital currency is already adopted in our country but i can say it is legit which everyone can make money and no one are getting scam by this coin. Hoping that soon government will review the background of bitcoin to know the good benefits brings to all people.

It's not illegal as a thing to own per say, for starter it becomes illegal when it's used to purchase items such as drugs and so on, as well as realizing shady transactions. But generally speaking the transaction doesn't even have to include them to be against the law. Bitcoin can be untraceable and that's already an offense, that's why in order to withdraw money made in bitcoin we have to indentify ourselves. It's not illegal unless your actions fall in those kinds of categories.

I think that bitcoin is now legitimate but will become illegal because there are a lot of criminals using bitcoin to get their drugs or weapons witch a lot of people haven't realized because bitcoin is not being looked at by the government.

In our country is legal, at least for now, it's even so legal that you don't pay taxes for buying BTC or other currency on atms, gass stations, etc... Now it's allready ethereum on sale on gass stations not just bitcoin. :)

bitcoin are  not fully legitimate in the worldwide we should know have many's countyr accepting bitcoin to help them to grow the economy of their country and to help the people using bitcoin to earn profits in the way to give job opportuniy using bitcoin as digital cryptocurrency, but hoping the other country not know the importance of bitcoin later on becomes interested and accept bitcoin to help in their country and become legitimate worldwide.

I think not only bitcoin but also the altcoins. Many people got scammed. It's very common today like here in this forum there's so many scammer they create coin just to many money.

Bitcoin is created in good fate. It only turns on the negative side when it is used as a medium for illegal transactions. Some people use it for criminality due to its untraceability, taking advantage of it for personal benefit.

i think this is the subtasnsial issues for us (bitcoiners) to answer, however i didn't enjoy my activity here in the world of crypto without the legality from my country >:(

The existence of bitcoin may increase crime rates throughout the world due to its decentralized nature, being unable to track-down illegal transactions under the dark web but the opportunities it provides to people regardless of their status supersede it. It also depends on the country under their laws and regulations about the prohibition of bitcoins. As you can see, more countries are legalizing it as an alternative payment vis-a-vis countries who ban it due to its effects, both economic and social perspectives. Hopefully, they would see the implications of bitcoin once they accept it as payment.

I think hat if the bitcoin is illegal it should banned in all countries thathaving this forum so that theres no people wi be the victim in this forum.

Man I don't know why governments keep saying this. I guess it's just a convenient excuse? I mean it's basically the go to response of oppresive governments. Remember what Hitler was saying about Jews? The citizens won't care for as long as it's for their own security. Sorry for the drastic comparison.

I won't deny that it's being used for illegal stuff but I feel like the threat is way too overblown. Criminals can just as easily use fiat and they're not sending warnings about that. I'm pretty sure governments that declare it illegal are just clueless as to how to regulate it.

Bitcoin is an independent currency what will make it legal or illegal will depend on the person using it like the currency we are currently using some people use it in illegal activities. We cannot prevent those people who uses bitcoin in doing their illegal transactions we cannot help because of the idea that it is very private no one can trace your transactions so it would be easy for anyone to transfer fund to another even corrupt officials can use bitcoin in investing the money they laundered but crypto currencies are made for legal purposes

Why would bitcoin be illigal. It is not a drug or crime. You can use bitcoin from any place at anytime if u have internet.  Why anyone  can call it illegal ? It is currency not a crime .so I don’t think it is illegal. ::)

Well, it depends on the situation or the usage of it. We as a part of this community, we can use it in a good way for investment but once a person turns away and use it in a bad way now that's what you called illegal. Illegally using of bitcoins are used in crimes. Since bitcoins is open to all , it is prone in everything whether legitimate or illegal.

Bitcoin is legitimate and legal. Money is legal when it is used for legal transactions and it becomes illegal when it is used in anything illegal - BTC is just like your everyday paper money.

I agree with you . World governments should recognize Bitcoin more positively because Bitcoin is recognized by everyone in the world and will soon reach agreement in the crypto world in the future. I hope Bitcoin will one day be recognized and legalized by the whole world

Bitcoin can be legal and illegal. It will always fall to how it is being used. Most of the transaction are legal because it is used to purchase or trade in some products and some services. I can say that those who are in black market have already in the idea of bitcoin transaction for they will not be tracked easily. In some news, bitcoin is used in drug transaction and some were used to pay illegal services such as hired killers.

It depends on which country you are speaking, in some countries it is legal, but in most of the nation's it is illegal, again it depends on the decision of the government.

you must know, wherever evil is always there. criminality can not be separated in human life. real world or virtual will always have crime and criminality. so tell me it's normal, there's always a positive side and a negative side.

I think it is because bitcoin can be used to buy some illegal things in the internet like buying some guns, drugs or hiring a hitman. It plays a great role with crimes that happen in a certain country but bitcoin also have its advantages. It depends to a person if he/she will use his/her bitcoin in a legal or illegal way.

We don't have to worry if your country banned the bitcoin because it doesn't depend on any government if we want to use bitcoin we can use it and no one can find the transaction of ours but if the country banned bitcoin then we can't pay directly into bitcoin so we need an exchange which converts bitcoin into fiat the we have to use it.But i am thinking bitcoin as an asset so i not gonna spend or sell it,I will continue to hold until the year 2025 and then i convert it into fiat then i will spend it as i want.

bitcoin becomes legal or illegal depending on the way you play it, if the bitcoin you use to exchange the money of corruption can be called illegal and a crime

if bitcoin has been legalized and already protected by law, then bitcoin becomes a legitimate digital currency, apart from that bitcoin can also be used for money laundry, and that's what bitcoin ultimately becomes a crime booster

This bitcoin depends on how tge users will gonna use it, will that be on good or bad, things are in users hand, we the good ones :D uses it in good way we earn it in good way, but those people who are really taking it in crimes make it illegal, it is just that btc is useful in doing in such crime transaction due to its anonimity in sending money, the untrackable transactions.

bitcoin is not recognized by some governments. So it is not considered by governments as goods for exchange. so it is outside the law. There is no law against bitcoin

I don't see any illegal in bitcoin. Why did you say that bitcoin is illegal? Do you think that its the fault of bitcoin why it has been used by the criminals. Like fiat money, bitcoin has been used in criminal activities and its the hard truth. Everything that has a value can be use in crimes. Bitcoin is legal, its on how the person uses it. If the person uses it for legal thing then it is illegal and vice - versa.

Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin with a pure motive of simplifying economic transactions. Now when and where to use that currency is solely depend on its owner. Legal status of bitcoin will be decided by the central authority of any country. Bitcoins rising price and its anonymous nature attracting many criminals towards it. According to investigating authorities of many countries criminals are using bitcoins in their illegal trades like drug trafficking, supply of drugs and guns etc. That is why countries like India, China,Japan, Austrialia,USA started taking strong actions such activities by proposing regulations on bitcoin transactions.

It is legitimate, however, it's legality is dependent on where you are standing geographically. Some countries have marked and branded it illegal due to different reasons, while others have accepted it and is promoting bitcoin use. However, for the most parts, especially for the people who have used it and have experienced how it can help improve the market, would say and defend that it is definitely legal and legitimate. Opposite from the many claims that it is vulnerable to risks, it's actually safe and safeguarded in many ways to keep others from hacking into. On the bad side, many people use it to gain leverage and take advantage of other people.

Some inventions have two parties of application: in the bad purposes and in good. Drugs, weapon, etc. belong to such things. The cryptocurrency, unfortunately, owing to anonymity of transactions and decentralization of a blockchain is convenient for the criminal world. But the criminal world existed before the invention of bitcoin. Criminals are much more inventive than the government and always on step ahead of law enforcement agencies. Because fight against criminal is concentrated on post factum but not on precautionary actions

BTC is in the underground sector of any economy, so it is illegal.

The money and bitcoin itself are legal.  Just like what you said, the transaction or crime is the illegal.  Bitcoin is very legit.  If it is illegal or scam or fraud or whatever you want to call it, bitcoin will never be in the position where it is now.  Its price will not goes up like that and the government for sure will issue warning regarding digital currency particularly bitcoin.

Bitcoin is legitimate but you explained, some country think that bitcoin is illegal. So still not 100% legitimate or illegal.

bitcoin can be legal and can be illegal, its depend on people which used it. we can say bitcoin legal if we do a good thing for bitcoin and not using bitcoin to do something that might be illegal. i think the government is worried about this too and they don't want that bitcoin is only know for illegal things and if the government can learn about the benefits of bitcoin to the country then i am sure that bitcoin will spreads as a good thing that will help people for better life.

You are right, People can use bitcoin for legal or illegal things, As you said it depends on people which used it. For exemple there is a lot of people use bitcoin in darknet marketplaces to sell-buy drug, guns, Stolen cards, and hacked accounts, This is a bad thing that people did using bitcoin, but when we talk about positives things we can say that bitcoin is too useful to make a wealth in the future.

With a type of currency that is decentralized, I guess it isn't illegal because it hasn't to do about with the system of fiat system of governing fiances. Bitcoin economy has its own freedom that will dominate the digital currency or other crypto currency in terms of profitable investments like the trading investments we had. Although the volatility speaks behind the fluctuation encountered, but still we have a good reasons to adopt the system because it's a sustainable source of our wealth and it can also be traded to banks now.

Crypto currency, and first of all bitcoin, can be used for criminal purposes. Yes, indeed, with the help of it, crime can rise, because it allows criminals to anonymously transfer any amount to anywhere in the world. With this in mind, the issues of the passage of bitcoins and other crypto-currencies will be decided in each state individually. It will take quite a long time for a common approach to solving this issue by different states. However, it is not worth blaming bitcoin for this. The development of technology, especially if they bring significant convenience and benefit, can not be stopped vseravno.

If you're using paper money and there are a lots of people money laundering and making counterfeit money, do you even consider that your money is illegal?? Its not about the item, its about the user and how can they control this. Bitcoin crime or any other crime in the world that involve money mostly done by money laundering, and since bitcoin transaction was made mostly annonymous and hard to track from a country officials so they declared it illegal because they dont have the power to control it  ;D

Bitcoin is legal or illegal, it is determined by the government of your country.
Most people believe that Bitcoin is illegal. But I think that the overall development of the country is a bitcoin.

It depends on you how you'll use bitcoin. You may use it to a good things or use it to illegal jobs or buying anything illegal (on darknet/silk road). It's up to you. It's just like a regular money. It's up to you on how you use it. If you like to buy marijuana or illegal drugs you can but as "illegal." Indeed a lot of people using it for criminal purposes. Paying into a live 'deepweb' shows (that is illegal) by using bitcoin. With that you can be safe because you're paying anonymously.

Yes, it varies from person to person and many and since it isn't centralized governmental authorities might not have the outright authority to prosecute those behind illegal transactions. Other currencies are also used to perpetuate criminal activities and i don't think it's different in this case and so we shouldn't single out bitcoin.

Bitcoin is Legit.  But it's up to you on how you use or handle it. On how you spend it.

In fact in some countries really sees bitcoin as an illegal since most illegal transactions can transacted with this that is why they banned bitcoin  while other countries such as in our country does not want to endorsed yet bitcoin as a way to invest or a source of income but they were open for the possibility that it could have a positive impact in the country.

In the country where I live, the status of bitcoin is in the gray zone. The government does not legalize bitcoin but also does not prohibit citizens using bitcoin. The government calls on bitcoin users to be careful because all risks are borne by the users themselves.

I think it is due to user consciousness, why blame bitcoin? There are so many criminals that are not synonymous with badcoats!

The normal use of bitcoin is legal, and it is against the law to use bitcoin for criminal activity. Now some countries have banned bitcoin. Bitcoin is getting more and more attention in the world and these problems will be solved. :)

Friend I will give you my personal opinion about Bitcoin and similar blockchain databases
All of them are simple Popzi Schemes and are not real assets, they exist just because people put fiat money to them. Miners are companies that burn huge amount of fiat currency to electric bills and hardware just to find a worthless sha256. Bitcoin does ZERO real work.
Blockchain technology is good when does something good to the real world, like keep track of some important information, not just keep track who pays for the wasted mining energy ...
Ethereum , NEO and platform like these are the real beneficial assets to the world and where the blockchain technology is used right.

Bitcoin is not having a legal license issued by many of the countries so far. We all know that if has a decentralized nature and it never comes under any of the government .So all we can say is that the ill legacy is going to be maintained and so far the matter of becoming a legitimate asset is concerned, it is not possible in the future 100 years even.

I think that this aspect is of much profit for us as the coins would not get under the pressure of high taxes and transaction would always remain safer.

maybe because bitcoin was use in a different way not in a good way. some country uses bitcoin as their money of course you can not blame bitcoin for it because if you have an illegal transaction bitcoin doesn't know about it. bitcoin only knows how much you will be used to transac but it doesn't know what will you buy and everything. well the this advantage of this is the people abused the use of bitcoin

There is no doubt that bitcoin can be used on illegal activities because of its characteristics.  Bitcoin does not reflect any information from the sender or to the receiver.  So meaning, the transaction is completed without giving any information from the people who used it.  Europe is a modern and rich continent so I do not know why there is increased crime because of bitcoin.  It would likely to happen in a country where there are many poor people.  Maybe people there are greedy that is why.

Bitcoin is legit because there is no valid reason or even proof that will make bitcoin looks illegal. We all have currencies in different counties that is being use in illegal things and it doesn't matter if there are some cases like that because that is very common. Bitcoin is legit and soon it will become stronger in terms of legitimacy because of the possible approval of the governments in different countries.

I think bitcoin is as a weapon is neither good nor bad, but all depends on the people who use it.

I know bitcoin is money, and money is always used for legal or illegal purposes. I'm afraid bitcoin is used for criminals because of its nature that can be spent on personal payments and can't be canceled.

Bitcoin is not illegal. That's how people use the bitcoin. So many countries do not allow the use of bitcoins because they use it in the wrong way.

I hope it will never be illegal because then all my bitcoins i made will be for nothing. I hope that i can continue investing in bitcoin.
Because bitcoin is the reason i don't have money problems. so i pray every time.

Bitcoin is a legitimate form of currency. There are countries that accept bitcoin. Bitcoin helps people in a lot of ways that is why it is important for most of us. But there are countries that do some rules and regulations about bitcoin and there are also leaders that make bitcoin illegal in their countries.

Bitcoin in some countries is considered illegal as a currency because it does not include a country's currency criteria, but this bitcoin is one of the most promising investment commodities if we can take advantage of the best opportunities and risks.

Bitcoins legal status is different in each country. Bitcoin is a autonomous cryptocurrency. Its peer to peer exchange is based on the mutual trust and understanding among its users and miners. Where & when to use bitcoin is solely in the hand of its owner no one can control it. Some countries like UK,USA, Australia are planning to regulate bitcoin currency . They are claiming that bitcoin has increased serious criminal activities like terror funding, drug and gun trafficking in their country. It if quiet difficult to track bitcoin user. One can transfer fund to anyone without help of any third party assistance. This making bitcoin popular in criminal activities.

This question is very common because a lot of times this question is repeat i think.Bitcoin is legal for many countries i know.But only few countries ban Bitcoin.Majority of the countries fully support Bitcoin that's why i treat this is absolutely legitimate.

It is legitimate I think because it offers job to everyone and gives money in exchange as their payments or salary. It can help people to earn money and survive their everyday lives. It can help people in changing their visions in life. It is legitimate because it brings good to people.

bitcoin in other country is legit they used bitcoin for paying bills, shopping etc. they used bitcoin for buying anything.
but some other country did not accept bitcoin and no tax so they think its illegal.

It is different for different countries. Some county accept Bitcoin as legal currency and people use it without​hesitation. But some county don't allow it as legal currency. It doesn't depend on the government.

Bitcoin legitimacy depends on each countries own laws. Every country has its own rulings regarding bitcoins but in many countries neither it is banned nor legal. That means you can do transact any deal on your own risk and you cannot claim your losses anywhere.

Indeed we must follow our government regulations. In my country bitcoin still not legitimate and that means illegal. the government bans the use of bitcoin as a transaction for several reasons, perhaps each country has a different policy

the presence of bitcoin would have a negative and positive effect. This is one of the negative effects of bitcoin, it happens because all ranges can create their own wallet without using valid data, such as passports or identities. wherever there is a crime of the real world or the world of the internet, easy easy will be no regulation about the owner of the bitcoin wallet so that it can overcome the crime that happened

Bitcoin is not subject to the laws of countries. Some countries are trying to regulate it, others are still ligating. But bitcoin will not manage to manage, because the system is decentralized.

Absolutely everything in this world can have a positive and negative effect. As if before the bitcoin, the world was perfect and there was neither crime nor other crimes, and with the advent of bitcoin, problems began.

for me bitcoin is legit , if its not this website is already gone .

Most countries that I know don't consider Bitcoin to be illegal. What are these countries you are talking about? I guess there are some, but as far as I know Bitcoin is legal in most countries.

There are, of course, many authoritarian governments in the world, and these are the ones that would be the last to consider Bitcoin a legal currency.

Until bitcoin regulates many people will keep on give critics about bitcoin is being used in illegal activities and terrorists usages. Still bitcoin can be convert it as fiat currency in your country and use to purchase any products. If you directly use the bitcoin in any place where it is not made as a legal money to use it.
If regulations takes over on bitcoin means we need to wait for it what the negative government takes on it. Most probably you cannot get any benefit from the any Government made bitcoin legal and after that.

Well bitcoin is another currency which is pretty hard to track and therefore can easily function as a payment method for criminals and crooks. The reason it is being considered illegal however in your country idk but I would

think that the criminal aspect of it keeps it on the illegal side.

In my opinion bitcoin is legitimate because Bitcoin is a consensus network that enables new payment systems and money that is entirely digital. Bitcoin is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is fully controlled by its users without central or intermediary authority. From the user's point of view, Bitcoin is similar to cash in the internet world. Bitcoin can also be viewed as the most prominent record-keeping system currently available.

Bitcoin has given the power of anonymous transactions due to which it is nearly impossible to know the owner of the wallet, hence it is possible that it has increased crime in some ways or another. But criminals always find ways to collect ransom or hide their cash online. Illegal activities take place with fiat currency also so Bitcoin cannot be Blamed alone for all illegal activities. Such statements are used to defame Bitcoin but nothing can harm its value on the long run.

Blaming bitcoin for crime is pointless. Before bitcoin was invented people used other form of goods to commit the exact kind of crime. They used prepaid cards as a medium of exchange. Did they make those prepaid cards illegal?

I agree with you and those allegations against bitcoin being used to fund terror is baseless and just a plan of the government to implement its rules over bitcoin and control it. Bitcoin is the future and government should be more focused in helping bitcoin community and encourage people to use it as this will resolve many financial crisis.

Bitcoin itself is legal but it can be used in illegal ways the same as fiat money, the different thing about bitcoin that it's much harder to trace making it easier to use in crimes while providing anonymity for criminals, thus their statement is right...
Anyway being "legal" or not depends on the laws of the country you live in. If it's banned in your country then we don't have a say in it..

when Bitcoin is still not legalized, it's still not goods or money so nobody have to pay tax for Bitcoin income that why there are a lot of people trying to take advantage of this case to use Bitcoin as a tool to evade the taxes. Beside the Bitcoin transaction is almost anonymous so some people used it to buy drug or weapons.

It is still legal in a sense that only some has the plan to do something about it. Bitcoin is still growing and of course not only for the good but also for the side of the bad/evil. Complete anonymous transaction and great security with a very efficient and reliable system. Bitcoin has all it takes to offer a great deal for criminals to do trades without cops and government being aware of. It will eventually lead to criminal acts rising behind the scenes and of course government will not turn their back on it. They want to ban bitcoin to maintain order and to reduce the flaws for their country.

It is definitely legitimate because it is the most widely used digital currency   ;) :D :)

Many things in the world induce crime, but some of them bring new technology such as bitcoin, telegram. Maybe it is illegal in goverment minds but not in mine.

With bitcoin legitimacy is completely upon the users self opinion, because what manner it functions is completely on trust. As it doesn't have a state as paper money, people need to trust it virtually. Till the day the trust keeps on increasing, bitcoin is legit and some term it as illegal which is completely upon the negativity published through media.

These crimes happen anyway, if they don't use Bitcoin they use other currency, what is the difference? Bitcoin isn't 100% anonymous, criminals can be tracked and found even if using Crypto-Currency. News like that are just spread to decrease Bitcoin power and adoption around the world, to make people believe if they use Bitcoin they are supporters of shady activities. It's impossible to reduce criminality just by banning Bitcoin and other Crypto-Currencies.

Bitcoin is legitimately legal. Crimes are happening everywhere. Sorry for the people who says bitcoin is a scam but were earning big time here. :P

actually until now there has been no global provisions that legalize bitcoin but only in countries that only legalize bitcoin
and that depends on country policy

Bitcoin once accepted in one country it is legal. The way of how people use it make it illegal. If they use it against the law just like for transacting drugs and weaponry to other country, butcoin is used illegally. It is not bitcoin because of being decentralized will not be accepted but the way of handling it in wrong way make it wrong for the country to ban it.

I speculate that it is the engineering of the police to drop the bitcoin price. If the price has fallen, there are those who take advantage of the declining bitcoin price to buy it. I do not see the criminal increase caused by bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not illegal. Probably they are saying that it increased crime because it is being used as a money laundering tool. Because of the decentralized feature and the difficulty of regulating it, criminals are reallt attracted to it. This is probably one of the reasons why the price of bitcoin has surged. Another important feature of bitcoin is how easy it is to transfer from one country to another without the need for explanation and the fact that it cannot be taxed.

Governments cannot ban the use of bitcoin. I have not heard of any government banning or making bitcoins illegal. What they can do is to ban the cryptocurrency exchanges and businesses that allows for the liquidation of btc to cash and vice versa. But even then I believe people can use vpns to still access exchanges if they are being blocked in their country. There are many ways to still escape the government's radar in the internet.

because of technology, bitcoins can be traced through the address but can not be known who the owner is. maybe this is what causes the criminals to use bitcoin as an intermediary for crime. but that does not mean the guilty bitcoin in this case, but the irresponsible people who are already using the situation.

for illegal issues, must be dealing with the government. every government wants everything in its state to be controlled by the government, "perhaps for the sake of the convenience of its people", but bitcoin can not be controlled by anyone, maybe that is one reason why it is considered illegal.

It depends on how will you use bitcoin. If the bitcoin owner use it in a way that he/she is obstructing the existing laws in their country, then it will considered as illegal. But the bitcoin itself cannot be considered as illegal because it has no direct effect the user to act as a criminal or a bad effect to him/her that can cause death or any other irregularities to someone.
But it is still on their government if they will tag bitcoin as a thing that can affect their lives and be considered as illegal.

European and British metropolitan police consider illegal bitcoins because they can not control bitcoin. Because of this it is certain some people are not interested in bitcoin.

Meh, this is some more of the alarmist vibe going around due to the price. bitcoin may facilitate cybercrime, but bitcoin is nit really stimulating crime per se. people have been using fiat to conduct illicit transactions since like, fiat existed. can we blame the history of crime since the inception of cash of fiat? so why would we blame a payment method instead of attributing the blame to its actual source? (economic depression).

and if bitcoin did facilitate, specifically, cybercrime due to its digital nature, then how much crime has PayPal facilitated?

Bitcoin can be used for criminal activities. True, but so does fiat money or other valuable things. But many people also use Bitcoin for legitimate purposes. You can pay with Bitcoin, if the seller accepts it. Maybe the government would see that as illegal, because they miss the taxes. So, legitimate or illegal, depends on what you do with it. But you can't blame Bitcoin for that.

According to my view bitcoin is legal for those countries who have not taken any step again bitcoin still so its means they are supporting bitcoin and other thing is that bitcoin is a money now it depend on the users of bitcoin that he want to use it. if he can used it for good work or he can used for bad work its up to him there is no problem from bitcoin side.

The only time it is illegal is if someone uses it illegally. Same goes for any currency. You sell drugs and gain money, it will be taken away.

In most countries, bitcoin mining is legal. Of course, there are legal ways to mine bitcoin, which generally means using your own resources, such as electricity and processing power. On the other hand, there are illegal ways to mine bitcoin, such as stealing said resources.

In this case, mining bitcoins is legal, but you’re stealing the resources needed to mine them, which is illegal. So it totally depend on the person who mine bitcoin.

Some believe Bitcoin is truly a legitimate currency, ... website, which illegally sold drugs

Every government is having its own policy about bitcoin, and is dealing and treating it differently. Some are very kind to it and other are very harsh t it. Some governments blame bitcoin for the mentality of their mass, crimes also exists in those countries where the bitcoin is ban or illegal so we should approach bitcoin positively and do not use its quality negatively

Very well said.What is legal to a man's eye and the law may become illegal to the law the moment he uses it not in a righteous way.Same goes with bitcoin too.It is considered legal even some of the countries are still not adapting it yet.And i'm proud to say that without bitcoin,i can never be satisfied with all my wants and needs.

I agree with the previous comment...everything is possible to turn into lawlessnes...any charity and even the help to children...so it all depends on the people who use it...