Bitcoin Forum

How do you think: does crypto make criminal life much easier? We all know that criminals use crypto to sell drugs, guns, people and everything else. Did crypto make doing such things easier? Earlier criminals had to think how to keep their anonymity and get paid, how launder their money, how to not get catched with this. But now they can just use crypto and all the headache about this financial troubles passed away. Of course there is much bigger positive points of crypto and not every user of crypto is a criminal, but anyway are you worried about this? Criminals also worsen the reputation of crypto that is not really stable itself.

I really don't want to accept this but ıt is that. All people and goverments know that. Actually ıt is not bad to this market but this situation may stay away a lot of people from this market. But we can see good sides of this market like high technology or making easier our lifes.

Of course it's worrying. Criminal acts in any form is worrying. How much more if it's done online with digital currencies? It makes it even easier for them. My wish is that someday, AIs will be used to detect such criminal acts so that those with clean intentions to just earn in crypto investments will be safe. What do you think about it?

It really does. That's the other side of using crypto. And that's why the governments need to regulate some spheres of cryptos.

Cryptocurrencies is really useful instrument for criminals but we should not be worried about it. Criminals was feeling good even there was not any cryptocurrency. There was criminals before, there is criminals now and there will be in the future and nothing could solve this problem.

I believe depend the person not the tools ( technology ), as long people use it in good way crime will never happen. In this century everything could happen and crypto/ blockchain is way to do that but I believe we will never do that. I think if we know someone use blockchain/ crypto for something wrong just report it, no reason to stay calm and quiet. We can't control crypto but use it in good way is worth to be done.   

Cryptocurrecny didn't come into existence to enhance criminal activities. In every new innovation there must be flaws but the real truth is that cryptocurrency has given individual control of financial assets. Hopefully someday every wallet would have an ID, and this criminal activities might come to an end. But just knwo that crypto was developed for the better

That's truly idiotic statement, even for a spam topic.

Physical cash is by far the best method of conducting face-to-face illegal exchanges.

Why would you think crypto crime proceedings are not needed to be laundered? Do you think you can just buy expensive stuff directly with crypto without ever being asked to prove legitimacy of your funds? Do you think you're free from having your funds frozen by exchange/bank when converting crypto to fiat?

It was like you said in the early years of crypto, but fortunately the situation has changed since then. Criminal activity in Cryptocurrency has dropped 80% since 2013 according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent Lilita Infante, who stated it in August 2018. So, if we are talking about present times, objectively criminals can't worsen the reputation of crypto, but of course media can by presenting wrong and outdated information as of current interest.

I disgree with your thoughts that crypto makes criminal's life easier. We all knew either that through public blockchain, any transaction could be traced and if this is being used by criminals then it would be an idiotic move by them since they can be caught.

for this reason the anti money laundering process is held, we must give our identity to the authorities so that the risk of crime in crypto is reduced.

Criminal life much easier, but shorter than regular persons life.
No matter what you do and how you live as a criminal, you will end ether in jail or in the ground.

i wish i could figure out how all those people who create topics containing the term "we all know that ..." are so sure about the subject they are talking about and how they are so sure everyone knows it!

for example in this case, what we know is that criminals use fiat and cash,... not cryptocurrencies which are harder to use, easier to track in some cases and are not accepted in that many places and are hard to convert back to cash!

How AI can deterct the criminal acts? Remember that depends on the intention from these criminals. Did you meant these AI must can be used to read these criminal's minds before they will try to do a criminal act? is that right? Put more restriction and that will decrease the criminal act dude.

indeed it was an irony but crypto was originally created because of dissatisfaction with the existing bank system. maybe it was originally created for something good, but something must have a bad side.

exactly you are 100% right i am agree with you.
crypto currency giving opportunity to criminals thats why some country are not ready to accept crypto currency.
it is good that you can send money within 5-10 mint with less fee compare to bank transaction but no one can track you this is the one of big conn of crypto currency that govt can't track criminals.

No, they didn't make things easier for them, it's not like they can convert their cryptos to fiat that easily, for that reason it is too much a hassle to even use crypto for illicit activies, for them it's way better and faster to use fiat currency.

You can't just go around laundering money and whatnot when there are AML/KYC policies pretty much everywhere in the cryptosphere.

Cryptos have been used for illicit activies for a very long time and yet cryptos are still growing in terms of popularity and value.

It has been relatively easy in the past. Preparing an scam ICO is quite simple, it can be done in a couple of months and does not require specialised knowledge. However it has become more difficult, as people have grown aware of the different techniques. I hope that eventually everyone will wise up and doing scams is no longer cost effective.

i think such things as old as our world and it's just unavoidable. in every system we can find some percentage of ill things, so it's just something that we should accept. hope it won't kill crypto

Well, anonymity has always been attracted. And criminal cases are easier to do. When it will be possible to pay for cryptocurrencies in stores through the card. That will be all much easier for everyone. But only now criminals profitable.

According to me, crypto is a very good thing. But, many people use this as a tool to do any criminal. Actually, with or without crypto, a criminal is always there, so I think it's not about crypto but it's about the people who do that thing. I hope there will be a severe punishment to the criminal who does their act in crypto industry.

There has been only a fraction of percent of criminal activity in the blockchain space. Similar to how it is with the "real" money. Probably a lot of criminals don't yet know about crypto methods or are not willing to risk it if they already have established methods that work.

Exactly. Exchanges implement measures like KYC ("Know Your Customer") which makes almost impossible for criminals to convert crypto to fiat. Also they hold a record of users' transactions on their databases, which can assist law enforcement in detecting criminal transactions.

Although we can't say that crypto currencies are not being used by criminals at all, it's clear that the percentage of the usage is very small compared to that of fiat. It's funny that guns are obviously being used by criminals, but no one is whining about that.

I believe that cryptocurrency is simply created for the criminal world. Now this fact only aggravates the situation on the market. Who knows, maybe Satoshi originally conceived it ... Now this fact only aggravates the situation on the market.

I am sure that the criminal world and cryptocurrency are currently not very related concepts. No need to think that Bitcoin contributes to the development of crime. This is not true. If you talk like that, it can be argued that the sale of weapons also contributes to the development of crime.

All form of money can use as criminal act, and all have an easy way either money fiat or cryptocurrency. Indeed, cryptocurrency have anonymity for those people who did criminal act so as they were hard to trace, but you should know to there is no one will know transactions that use money fiat, unlike with cryptocurrency that every transaction can be seen on the blockchain. Criminal act is not factored by a currency. However, it is assignment of the government or even religion to organize their lives better.

Criminals will always do everything for their advantage, we can't fully stop them. And it will always be their liability to the law for these wrongdoings. Blockchain was meant to be used for convenience and ease, bad thing, even criminals can benefit with it.

actually you have a point right here, but we all know that crypto has a good and bright future for us all. and does not intend to bring in or motivate criminals. well i know that all transactions can be traced and all criminals will be caught some day.

Recently I read that large investors can buy Bitcoin up to 20% more expensive if it is pristine clean and has not participated in questionable transactions.  :D

Criminal aspect has throughout been a great negative towards the viability of crypto, creating a moral dilemma for many, but with the way technology moves and governmental regulations, this will be curtailed in some way.

Crypto or fiat if a person wants to do a crime he can do it in anyway. Crypto's anonymity can be used for illegal transactions same as fiat and I believe this "criminals" you're talking about isn't a big threat, the real criminals that's treath to humanity wear ties.

That has always been one of the concerns and the talking points of cryptocurrency critics. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how governments plan to address this problem. Atleast now there's a KYC compliance to possibly minimize these illegal activities.

It wont take long til they are caught. They may not be caught online for being techie in hiding their Identity but one day they'd commit mistake. Low life criminals usually aren't usually knowledgeable on the internet though but those who are, are perhaps believers of crypto as well. They are sort of an investor as they put money into a coin to make transactions.

Surely, the cryptocurrency is involved in any kind of criminal schemes, but before that, the dollar did that job. Just by a cryptocurrency is generally easier to pay than with fiat money.

I don't think so. because there's a way to prevent these illegal people. like banks. exchange companies keep personal information in the KYC/AML database. a system can filter for guilty people. prevents them from processing. in real life, a criminal does all sorts of things. he gets cash. someone else has a wire transfer. guilty everywhere. this feature can be used for criminals.

I think that cryptocurrencies are more suitable for people who launder money, as well as for people who need to withdraw money offshore.

Until now I still believe that crypto is only a tool, as long as people use it in a good way, crime will never occur. We can't control crypto but use it in a good way is worth doing. Just ignore people who use crypto for crime, because bad people have been present before crypto was born.

I hate to break it to you all but criminals are the reason why crypto is pumping. It's about supply and demand and there is huge demand by criminals. When conventional investors join in, there will be even bigger demand so just be patient for them to join

There are 2 different kinds of criminals and maybe crypto made it easier for only 1 kind of them which is the type that selling cracks selling pirated copyrights etc, but for the real criminals ( terrors, murders, etc...) I really doubt that what you are saying is true, in fact, I think it is harder for real criminals to use crypto than using fiat money.  I know people will say that deep web full of sick stuff and crypto is involved there I heard that a lot but I am not really familiar with what is in there so my opinion is just based on what I see.

It's a controversial topic. On the one hand, crypto with its anonymity, untraceable transactions, etc. makes criminals' life easier. But on the other hand, crypto is not intended to help criminals in their hugger-muggery deals.

what if in the future there will be way of knowing if it is connected with dirty stuff or not? what if there'll be some kind of fingermarks checking before entering crypto space?

Yes, cryptocurrency is not as simple as it seems. And many do not understand this, then simply leave it. But cryptocurrency world love the strong! And only people with a strong spirit and nerves can achieve a lot. And become the winner in this game.

considering what kind of market is volatile, I don’t think that cryptocurrencies make life easier for criminals. Yes, on the one hand, transactions can be anonymous, but on the other, their amount can fall by 30% in minutes which in turn is not very profitable for criminals

Criminals currently feel safe with crypto, but they are not.
Only if you use anonymous coins, it makes sense to use crypto.
Otherwise it will make it easier for the authorities, because the blockchain stores all transactions.

I totaly agree with what you said, as it is up to the individual whether they would use something to do good or bad things. And not just bad things but also in daily life as we could use money or even information against a person or use both of it for the greater good, it is just that we do not know the individual who does these thing unless they are already done.

You write as if many people are now engaged in arms trafficking and selling large quantities of drugs. After all, to buy or sell small lots, hardly anyone will use the cryptocurrency. For smaller lots, it's better to use cash. I do not think that the emergence of cryptocurrency significantly increased the level of crime. This is a contrived topic.

right, this cannot be avoided, maybe later there will be a new system to change crypto to be better, I think only a few criminals use crypto to transact,

Undoubtedly, the cryptocurrency has untied the hands of many criminal enterprises. The transfer of money has become impossible to track. The worst of this is that the cryptocurrency is used by bandits and terrorists. But this future it makes life easier not only for the good guys but also for the bad guys.

These are fairy tales for silly people that cryptocurrency makes criminal life much easier. Before cryptocurrency was invented, the dollar and other currency calmly and easy being used in the criminal world and what somebody spoke about that such often as about crypto? No. That's why I think such fairy tales designed to hold back cryptocurrency development and its introducing

With cryptocurrencies there are fewer chances of getting caught with money transfers. For most drug lords I don't think they are really interested in cryptocurrencies, bitcoin specifically.

We can not deny that cryptocurrency really give so manu advantages for criminal. Because bitcoin really make the transaction more easier. Bitcoin also hard to be hack. All the criminal really get the good side of it whether their activities are bad for other people.  But it is still based on the user. The good and bad things will always accour whether cryptocurrensy is existing or not.

I think the opposite, that crypto transactions are transparent, trackable  and you cannot hide anything, while with Fiat you cannot prove.
I am not saying that criminals are  not using crypto, but if the authorities wants to catch them it is easier if they are using crypto.(trackable transactions, IP adreses, Mobile GPS tracking ).
And at some point they have to convert crypto into Fiat and it can be done through exchanges and identification.

There is no way how can crypto be more useful for criminals than cash. It is unstoppable and untraceable, so you have no idea who was an owner of that particular banknote and what has he traded it with. In crypto, blockchain keeps all information about every single transaction that has ever happened. If I am a criminal, I would not risk that someone will expose my address and your contacts would become very vulnerable. In my opinion, crypto brings many more positive effects than negative, but sadly, crypto does not have the greatest reputation among the people right now. Trust is something that we have to build for years and even though it never might be enough for some and you can lose it within a second due to the situation you were not even responsible for (I am looking at you, Bitconeeeeeect!). Neverending process full of compromises is what we should apply if we want to become a successful field among others  ;).

this is just your assumption, look at the current market situation is very unstable so there are various possibilities to involve crime, especially in the sale of drugs. logically, one must have knowledge to be able to transact via crypto and the process is quite complicated.
in essence, crime is always everywhere, especially in our real life.

As of now, there is a possibility that many criminals are using cryptocurrency in dealing with their customers and business partners however according to many sources this is not so significant if we have to compare this with their transactions using the normal fiat money. And I am sure that many of these criminals are also wary about the future implications if they will go 100% cryptocurrency. This is one reason why regulations should be in place with cryptocurrency so that criminals will not be encouraged to utilized cryptocurrency in their illegal business and so we can limit the damage to their industry posed by criminal transactions. We should strongly note that these problems and these illegal activities had have been there for decades and cryptocurrency is not the reason why they are existing and even if we are stopping cryptocurrency they will still do their bad business.

I think that cryptocurrencies have really made life much easier for many people associated with crime, as now the issues related to where the money comes from may disappear.

criminals won't be happy with crypto. i think that kind of technology isn't really convinient for them. cash is so much easier to obtain and it is really new, they will have to use their brain

Ofcourse, we cannot change their intentions because they come here only with shit mind to rob. They don't go with legal things and their thoughts will always be negative. Digital currency plays a big role in criminals life.

I don't think about it at all. Crime existed before the creation of cryptocurrency. And I do not think that this will somehow affect the future of cryptocurrency. According to your logic, fiat money is to blame for the fact that nakrotik, weapons, etc. are sold. The people themselves are to blame.

of course not. all anonymity is a conditional concept because if you want to withdraw money from the account, unfortunately you can get to the core of it and see that you have illegally transferred funds, etc. so in terms of anonymity, you need to be very careful

Most of the scams that happen in the world are largely in fiat. The notion that crypto has increased crime is like a rumor .  It is true that we have scams in the crypto space but it easier to track criminals in the blockchain than it is to track criminals with fiat currency

the world of crime can happen anywhere in real life or advanced technology easily. crypto is a blockhain system to invest and trade all products worldwide, some people use it in the wrong way to smother goods that are prohibited by the state, therefore crypto must be better security system so as not to be able to cheat in the trade business. we must be vigilant with the mode of crime in the advanced era as it is now.

Unfortunately that is true,but you may need to consider that the development of technology serve both side "goodness" and "evil", this the world :(

Criminals often use those cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin in the shadow part of the Internet for example),transactions in which are transparent and can be tracked, which should make life easier for law enforcement agencies when searching for criminals. And imagine the usual Fiat money and how much they purchased illegal products, and cash is impossible to track. So the problems are not as serious as you can imagine.

Criminals or bad people will do everything just to earn good money, so i believe that is true that is why a lot of countries are considering cryptocurrency is a illegal because it is used in crimes or illegal activities.

Indeed it is true it is. and even for the reason that no doubt many countries is also quite worried about crypto and until now not been able to receive or legalize crypto for their country. However, when just looking at the bad side of well deserved less so because even the existing benefits of crypto is also quite a lot. technological advances brought by the crypto should also be seen as a good thing and could be considered for joint progress.

I’m not really sure crypto currency enhances criminal life
The biggest factor I guess is money laundering

Crypto currency makes it easy for governments officials to move a large sum of money without trace
And I personally think that’s why the sec troubles crypto currency