Bitcoin Forum

Crypto has faced media trial from the very beginning. In early days of crypto, it was said that crypto is currency for bad people only.
money launderer not only use Crypto to launder money.
drug dealers and ARM dealers also use Fiat for their trade. and not all the cryptos are fully anonymous or impossible to trace.  it is true
That crypto is still illegal in some countries but those countries shows highest rate of money laundering, corruption, drug dealing and human trafficking is very common in those countries. So, main stream media works for central bank and spread only bad things about crypto.
I think this is a major resistance for crypto adoption. What do you think?

It is true but only a half of truth while you know a half of truth is no longer truth.

Everything can be used by criminals for their crimes and Bitcoin can not be the exception. Bitcoin can be used by criminals, that's correct but Bitcoin was not created ONLY for criminals while it has no censorship against anything or anyone. Everyone can use Bitcoin if they want and this free access does not make Bitcoin as a tool created for illegal things.

Debunk it.
https://endthefud.org/justice

When discussing money laundering, cash is probably much more widely used than Bitcoin because with cash, transactions can be conducted without leaving any traces, cash can change hands multiple times without any records.

On the other hand, Bitcoin is traceable. Even if you use a mixer, it can only obscure the transaction flow, but not completely erase it. So, authorities can still trace it if they want.

So, the media bias against Bitcoin is because the elites who control most of the media simply dislike Bitcoin and will spread FUD wherever possible to tarnish its image and discourage people from adopting it. As a result, Bitcoin adoption can slow down, and people remain dependent on the traditional financial system.

Smart criminals use Fiat and dumb criminals use crypto, on the long run they learn the hard way, using crypto to launder money isn't always safe for criminals in the end because they can always be tracked, there are footprints everywhere on the blockchain. The only way to get away with crime online but not completely still is by using mixers and that's why the government don't want it to function.

It is normal to always see the government wanting to paint the crypto community black through their mainstream media. They always talk badly about Bitcoin and crypto at large, claiming that it aids in criminal activities, but in the real sense, they are the ones sponsoring and promoting the criminal activities in their countries. They embezzle funds via fiat because they can easily erase every trace, but with crypto, they can never do that, as their transactions can be easily traced, hence their fake media against bitcoin and crypto.

I don't think it's a resistance for crypto-currency adoption because it is mostly the government that push the narrative that Bitcoin is being used for illegal purposes and they are doing this out of fear for Bitcoin because they want to control the financial power of people.
It's no longer a topic in my opinion because it is not prevent the continuous adoption of Bitcoin
Money crimes where Bitcoin or Crypto-currency was used is lower than those Fiat were used.

I honestly feel the media has always exaggerated the “crypto is for criminals” narrative. Yes, some bad actors use it but that’s true for every form of money. The funny thing is that blockchain actually exposes them more because everything is publicly recorded.

A lot of mainstream media simply echoes the interests of central banks so they highlight the negatives and ignore the real use cases. But despite all that noise, adoption keeps growing because ordinary people are using crypto for real-life needs which are; escaping capital controls, sending money easily, protecting themselves from inflation and accessing a financial system that doesn’t judge them.

At the end of the day, the truth always outlives propaganda.

The legality and illegality of Bitcoin are not the only things that are happening before our eyes, but there are many more hidden behind it. I think the government of that country is the most opposed to recognizing Bitcoin as a state asset because Bitcoin will be considered a state asset, that is, once people start using Bitcoin, the government will lose control over the economy. Which a government of a country will never want. The governments of many countries are responsible for destroying the economy of the country, for example, they launder state assets from the state treasury. In this case, if Bitcoin is considered as a treasury asset, they will not be able to easily remove it elsewhere because Bitcoin is decentralized and will always be under tracking. There are also many other reasons why the government does not want Bitcoin to be a legal asset in its country.
Again, if the government of a country wants to present Bitcoin as an asset used in criminal activities, then I would say that this will not have any negative impact on the adoption of Bitcoin. This will become more like a pointless marketing. If I say don't look at the sun today, if you look, your eyes may be damaged. You will look at the sun today despite my prohibition, but I don't think you would have looked at the sun if I hadn't said so, and don't you think you have looked at the sun in a week? Similarly, when the government of a country wants to expose Bitcoin as the economy of a criminal empire, people will express interest in knowing more about it, and when they learn about Bitcoin, they will plan to arrange their economic position in Bitcoin.

Crypto is identified as a currency for immoral activities by those who are involved in this illegal smuggling. In a country where crypto does not exist or crypto is not used, is there no crime in that country? Wasn't there illegal buying and selling before crypto was created? Money laundering, international illegal buying and selling don't happen without crypto? Everything happens, but it is done through those who do not want to legalize crypto in the country. That is, political leaders, most of them are involved in these illegal activities. Crypto is not legalized so that the government and political leaders can keep an eye on people's accounts and steal from there if necessary. Because the crypto owner himself owns a bank. He does not have to rely on the bank for international transactions, he can do it directly himself.

There was a comment I was reading, which was explaining the disadvantages of something and a question was thrown at his explanation, the question asked was that, is there anything that is without a single disadvantage? Even fresh water can be an advantage to fish and can still be a disadvantage for the fish too because fishes are happy in fresh water but that same water can be used to cook the fish. Bitcoin has been criticized right from the start and other crypto has also been criticized and tagged as the reason for money laundering, meanwhile this same Bitcoin and other crypto has been the reasons why some persons became millionaires and billionaires in a legit way. When some people start talking bad about something, they turn blind eye to the good side of that thing but only look at the disadvantages.

Like everything else, bitcoin is a tool.  It can be used for good or bad.  Just like cars, guns, drugs and the like.  There are people who will demonize all of those things because they don't like people having the freedom to make their own choices. 

I think this is just a misconception people have concerning Bitcoin; they only think about and understand the negative aspects of how Bitcoin can be used as a tool, and they forget the positive aspects of Bitcoin and how it has benefited the masses. People need to understand that, apart from Bitcoin, other innovations are used by criminals, and because of this, you can't just condemn it because it is used by criminals. I think the reason why people think this way about Bitcoin is due to a lack of understanding. Fiat is important to everyone, and criminals also use it to commit more crimes, but this doesn't mean that it lacks positive value.

Bitcoin can't be used for money laundering, that is hysterical bullshit. Money laundering requires a bank account or a legitimate business which again requires a bank account. No bank account, no money laundering. Time to ban all the banks?  :)

It is a terrible tool for criminals especially for small time crime. Cash is king for small time crime and banks are the kings of big scale crime and money laundering.

It was always a nonsensical position to begin with and they keep changing the example that is given as they continue to be proven wrong. Bitcoin is entirely neutral. It does not matter if all the criminals in the world used it, it is neutral. It does not facilitate crime, it does not promote crime, it does not do anything. Biased entities can write whatever they want about Bitcoin but that does not have any impact on what Bitcoin truly is.

Bitcoin was never used for money laundering that is a complete fabrication. Only the dumbest people in the world fall for such crap, it is not even a sophisticated lie. It is in the group of the dumbest possible lies.

Major resistance to crypto adoption is the fact people don't understand how it works, don't have interest in learning and are used to use only what the government tells them to use. It has always been like this, and even though adoption increased along the time, it didn't grow too considerably in order to claim it has become widespread in society.

Actually, investments in general are something most people aren't into too, so it wouldn't be different with Bitcoin. Most people are used to spend every single cent they earn monthly until they receive the next wage. That is the mentality of average citizens in the world. It's just a minority who goes ahead and think on long term gains and goals.

Those small number of persons that are using crypto to commit crimes are the reason why many people have had misconception about crypto and to be specific, many people have misunderstanding of Bitcoin, some persons think Bitcoin is same as altcoins and that they all serving the same purpose of being used by scammers to commit crimes and steal from people, they are not even ready to learn because they are dumb and ignorance has overwhelmed them. Bitcoin is now mainstream and it is being used for good cause, anyone thinking otherwise is just being ignorant for the knowledge they lack.

If I were a criminal, Bitcoin would be the last thing I would want to use to launder my money. It's too transparent. Whatever amount you have is open for all to see. You cant hide it from anybody; everybody sees the money. They may not know that it belongs to you, but everybody still sees it. It just takes one link to you, and everything will come crumbling down.
Funny how there has never been a time when the number of illegal transactions in Bitcoin has been more than 2%. So I always wonder where the saying that "Bitcoin is for criminals" comes from. Funny how the amount of crypto crimes committed with bitcoin has been decreasing year by year too.

I don't think the media's opinion is actually a problem or is going to be a problem in the future either. They've been exposed already. A lot of people now know that all they do is initiate a propaganda to sell out their own dishonest and bias ideology, probably to find favour in the sight of the government to whoever they truly work for. Before Bitcoin, money laundering wasn't even a difficult task. People laundered gold, cash, manipulate financial records with pen, and so many other techniques, but they are quick to sell out articles filled with total crap about Bitcoin being used for laundering purposes, as if laundering issues has never been an existence.

It's a pity to those who buy their propaganda and believe what they say without asking questions. Just because it's coming from the media doesn't means it's 100% correct. They sell to us what they want us to know, which is no difference from controlling people's mind.

Mainstream media want engagement and they get it well by trying to spread controversy or make something look educational - those are the two avenues they mainly use.

There was a report from Europol a while back that said only 2% of cryptocurrency were associated with illicit activities and that left 98% used for clean exchange. Criminals using crypto usually use it because it's harder to trace and detect than cash and works well as a medium of exchange.

This is not an issue with "crypto" or Bitcoin itself. It is just that this situation exposes the stupidity of the average citizen of the world. There was a time where the belief was that the problem was a lack of access to information/education. However, modernity proves that the problem is that most people are simply stupid. No amount of access to information can fix them.

Instant gratification is a trait of animals, most of these people are closer to animals than developed humans.

It can't be used to launder money. Read my post.

Professional money laundering operators have no issue with this. You are mistaken here. Nobody can link a proper operation, it works like a system and has many pieces. You may be able to catch come carrier of money, but what about it? He can't prove that the money is owned by the money launderer. His testimony would be at best hearsay and he's afraid for his life anyway so usually he wouldn't talk to begin with. To prosecute the carrier on something serious you can't just catch him with any money, you have to have proof that the money comes from crime. This will vary from country to country but overall the punishment that he could get is significantly less than in the case where they can prove that the money came directly from a crime.

Even that is a very questionable number. I am sure that it is wrong since the estimates come to a large extent from external observations.

The stats are a joke, the percentage is much higher with bank transactions which is what is needed to do proper money laundering.  :)

That's it, you can't expect the media not to be biased with crypto simply because they works for the government, and government is for fiat. Even if we all know that in most countries where illegal crimes are happening, its always fiat that has been highly utilized, but when you hear the news, its always crypto that is behind all of those crimes. Unfortunately, the media is absolutely pro-fiat and anti-crypto, that's why what we keep hearing is praising their fiat while tormenting crypto by all means.

Every time some politician or headline screams "crypto is for bad guys," you need to remember the reports prove them wrong.

FATF and UN reports show that the vast majority of money laundering and terrorist financing is still done through the traditional financial system (banks, offshore accounts, real estate, cash).  Simply put: criminals still prefer cash and complex banking schemes due to higher volume and less tracing in some phases.

It is quite easy to understand why there is a smear campaign against crypto in the media.  Central banks and governments fear losing their monopoly on money, and they will do whatever it takes to retain their power.  Your crypto wallet threatens their authority, so they will employ unethical means to maintain control of the monetary system.

In my opinion, cryptocurrency is not for bad people only but for everyone although some people use it for bad things or illegal things that's why I think why you said that it's for bad people only because they use it for bad things like money laundering. Because of that even the casinos now ask for KYC as a way to stop people from using their platforms to launder money. Being decentralized is what I think the reason why they choose it since it isn't easy to track the funds from a wallet to another wallet since there's no identity link to the wallet address.

Yes, just like with fiat currency, there are some people who use it for criminal purposes, right? And not all criminal acts involving fiat currency can be traced to their origins and flow. So, there's really no difference, right?

However, it's undeniable that cryptocurrency-related crimes are increasing day by day compared to previous years, and these crimes are also becoming more diverse and professional. Based on the data I've read from several sources, the confirmed data is only a small percentage.

However, no matter how serious the crime is, if it is related to crypto, it will immediately become bad news, FUD, and also become a very big rumor for the development of the crypto market, because the media will seem to make it into a very big news, the bad influence of crypto on life.

maybe can see this article:
2025 Crypto Crime Trends) (https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/2025-crypto-crime-report-introduction/)

Ongoing media attacks on crypto, in which you rightly note that argument that crypto is only used by bad people is not true, since huge majority of crime is done using fiat money and traditional banking system. It is also true that you are correct that it is easy to find where Bitcoin and other main cryptocurrencies come from, but main problem with negative media reports is that crypto threatens power of central banks and governments, which use their influence to cause Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt means FUD to create resistance and stop people from using new technology.

The narrative has changed a lot after all of those years. The thought of people about Bitcoin mainly has changed because it's now being adopted and the big names in the finance industry are investing on it.

People would be curious why they're doing that where in the first place, they've called it as something bad and used for these illegal matters.

But not anymore today, before it did delayed Bitcoin's adoption and now they're also helping to its adoption when they're reporting what's happening in the market and all progress that happens.

These days we are seeing critics turn high end investors and it is all because Bitcoin refused to fail, but it surpassed their low expectations all round with proof of work for all to see.
I think regulations have done a lot more to settle the issue of money laundering because I believe it was just a front for the FBI and other government agencies to control and understand Bitcoin and crypto currencies to the full extent.

Corruption will always be in existence because evil people don't sleep and I believe bitcoin will continue to innovate way beyond just strategic reserve banks and partial adoption for everyday transactions purpose and that puts away the fears or FOMO or FUD that was initially experienced when Bitcoin emerged and launched into the crypto currency market.

I would like to know if these journalists writing about Bitcoin being used in crime ever used a knife to cut ingredients, a razor to shave their beard or legs, a lighter to light up a candle, tape to pack a box.  Do they know they are using crime tools?

The Great Britain is by this logic stupid for not banning knifes and razors because it would stop all knife crime it seems.  So would banning tape, because kidnapped victims will be able to scream, so would banning lighters because some people are set on fire using them.

Ban bottled beers too, because bottles are used as molotovs at protests.

There are many people who try to manipulate opinions to corner Bitcoin and make it look so bad in the eyes of many, they make it seem as if Bitcoin is only a tool for money laundering, illegal transactions, and other criminal activities, which makes people doubt and not want to get involved in it. but the fact is that this narrative is very easy to debunk since the percentage of Bitcoin used for illegal activities is much smaller compared to conventional cash, and Bitcoin offers transparency which makes it easier to track. so what is said by those who view Bitcoin negatively is actually baseless and does not need to be listened to because it is only propaganda aimed at protecting their interests.

There is no denying that governments and banks have been major barriers to bitcoin adoption as they considered it illegal and advised people to stay away from it. But that is no longer true as they have legalized and integrated it into their system.

You are right, the barrier to bitcoin adoption is that the overall global investment demand is not as large as we imagine. Not many people are interested in increasing their wealth by investing in financial assets. Instead, they focus on spending, saving, or engaging in other areas like business to make a profit. Only a small percentage of the population participates in financial investments.

Even with a physical asset that has been around for thousands of years like gold, many people still don't want to hold and invest in it, let alone online investment products like stocks and bitcoin.

You are right that claim that Bitcoin is mostly used as crime is not true and can be easily shown to be wrong, since amount of Bitcoins spent on crimes is much lower than huge amount of cash, which criminals like due to its simple nature and offline anonymity. Also all Bitcoin transactions are open to everyone on blockchain, and so, it is easy to follow money flow by law enforcement, which shows that people pushing this bad talk are usually just trying to protect interests of old banks and financial systems.

Indeed, the story has changed significantly from many years ago. Nowadays, we hardly see any articles or central bank representatives saying that bitcoin is only used for illegal activities or spreading negative things about it anymore. I hardly see anyone talking about this anymore, except for a few people on our forums like the OP.


It can be said that this is outdated and old news because they have legalized bitcoin and acknowledged it as part of the financial market. So it would be wrong for us to continue blaming them and seeing this as a major barrier to bitcoin adoption.


Banks and governments are no longer barriers, but instead volatility, lack of technological understanding or limited infrastructure are.

There should be both positive and negative aspects of one thing. That is a job for the government, the regulator and the police to identify those who use crypto for illegal purposes.

Besides that, they need to explain about the plus and the minus of crypto to public and not just judge like that. People need to know so they can stay away from something that suspicious or illegal.

If the government can explain, people will understand and will not try to use crypto for illegal things. Only those who related to crime or illegal things that will still use crypto for that purpose.

Initially when bitcoin was becoming popular bad people used it for its anonymity to use as medium in money laundering. That name and stain have remained and still being called for.

The people who keep on saying this dont understand how the system work and what they are being told from a bigger perspective.

However as time passes we need to make people aware and that is the only way we can abolish this wrong notion.

With better adoption for Bitcoin, there are some advantages like bigger trading volume that makes more easily to do money laundering through bitcoins without big price loss by low trading volume many years in the past. There are also more business acceptance directly in bitcoin as payment method that makes it more easily to spend bitcoins for something.

It's true for both Bitcoin adoption generally and Bitcoin usage for money laundering particularly, and I neutrally think that we can not have one without the another as they are both components of Bitcoin adoption. Fighting against money laundering belongs to governments and their law enforcements and they can not pass all responsibility to Bitcoin blockchain, Bitcoin users and business companies.

They cannot ignore the growth that Bitcoin has made for all of the years of its existence. They're in it for the growth of it and despite that there have been a bad history it has got, everyone is having that bad history.

And so for them to adopt bitcoin isn't that hard at all. Bitcoin's growth is actually a good cinderella story.

And it's a favor to bitcoin itself.

Because it was once told to be a bad thing and investment, used only by bad guys. Now, the mainstream has changed it all and the big guys of finance is already in it investing and telling people to go all in.

I think this "crypto is used by criminals..."  is just a propaganda by certain groups to undermine or instill fear to people that the government might hunt them if they get involved in cryptocurrency.  It has been done and repeatedly done by some groups to hinderthe adoption of cryptocurrency.


This is simply proof that this cryptocurrency is a currency that can be use by either good or bad people, just like how fiat currency is used, and in fact, fiat currency has way more cases of being used by bad guys.

The major resistance against crypto is the government. They don't want something that they cannot control. Yes, they can regulate it, but still they don't have full control over it. That's the reason why they create a false narrative that Bitcoin could be use to run a large syndicate because of it's anonymity, which it was never true. Money laundering and other money related fraud long existed just before Bitcoin was created. If people really intend to make crimes, they could always opt to use any currency or any form of money they can.

It has always been the government who's afraid of Bitcoin.

Yes, there is no difference on how fiat is being used.

It's on how people are using it either with the bad or good usage that we're spending it.

The bias comes out when people don't like Bitcoin for some reasons and they keep arguing about how bad it is and never moves on. But don't look at how good it is right now and being a talk in the town as an asset for all this generation.

I dont think so, I think Bitcoin has a bad image on illegal things since in the past its mostly link to laundering, drugs and a lot of illegal things. But I dont think that the numbers on that is not really that high as we think, for sure only a small amount of people are using Bitcoin or cryptocurrency on illegal things, it wasn't really something that is safer, particularly since we have a lot some cases of it still getting caught on the news. But im positive that there are much more crimes related when it comes to banks or the physical cash that we are using compared to cryptocurrency.

This is a factor for sure but I dont hink that its a huge factor, For me all we need is knowledge, a lot of people just doesnt have the knowledge about it so they easy conclude based on what they here, if they heard that it is some how related to crimes in the news for sure they might get afraid on it, but if they have the knowledge about it they know that it is just a tool.

You're mentioning the fud and double standard of people.

They say crypto is used for money laundering yet every hackers can be traced and every money launderer can get exposed. It's a transparent ledger but the haters who likes to fud on bitcoin always fail to understand.

Fiat or paper money is much more widely used for crime because it leaves no traces yet crypto is the one taking the blame. It's just ridiculous, but just know that sentiment are getting better and people actually don't buy that fud anymore.

You're right about the control aspect for sure. But I think for some politicians, it's less about deep fear and more about simple lobbying. Big banks and financial firms that fund campaigns see Bitcoin as competition. So the "crime" narrative is a convenient weapon those lobbyists push. It's not always a grand governmental fear, sometimes it's just old money protecting its turf using the government as a tool.

Correct. Anyway, it is much easier to trick old people to buy you gift cards than to buy Bitcoin and send it correctly to you. One requires reading the gift code or sending a picture, the other is much more complex. Nevertheless, it does happen sometimes but comparatively speaking the number of transactions/ATM scams is minor.

You completely contradicted yourself in your stupidity. In almost all cryptocurrencies, it is trivial to track the movement of funds from one wallet to another. Whether there is an identity linked to any wallet address is something else entirely.

No, they are not increasing -- read the actual article and use your brain instead of reading a headline and shitposting here. You don't even understand the article that you linked. Absolute number is increasing because the total activity and capitalization has grown, but the % of activity is what matters here (not absolute, useless numbers). It staying low. The percentage of criminal activity is much lower than with bank and cash, therefore it can be ignored.

https://www.chainalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image3.png

Actually in Britain there was a proposal to limit accessibility to knives as a measure against stabbings that are almost exclusively done by a certain group of people. Yes, they are actually dumb enough to propose stuff like that.

OP, if you notice, the perception the media holds on Bitcoin as tool for money laundering and the rest of other bad things they have in mind have minimize from the way it was at Bitcoin early stage. This is why we have counties legalizing Bitcoin in their countries because the good side of Bitcoin overshadows the bad side some few bad people use it for, compare to the millions of investors who hodl Bitcoin for their future profits to be a millionaires

Yeah the narrative is definitely shifting. Mainstream is slowly getting that it's more digital property than darknet cash the legalization wave proves the utility and store-of-value argument is winning. Still a long road, but the early FUD is fading for sure.