Experts: Bitcoin is prime cash for terroristsWASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — With digital currency, customers can buy just about anything and remain anonymous--no coins or paper currency.
Digital currency like Bitcoin is not tied to any country, nor subject to regulation. Experts say it's prime cash for terrorists.
"Things like Bitcoin are representing a means of financing illegal activity, not just terrorism," said Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Steve Bucci of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. agrees: "It's not just Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the most popular, the most prevalent form of digital currency, if you will."
Financial experts say terrorists could and very likely are using digital currency to spread their jihad anywhere in the world, specifically if their transactions are done in what's known as the "Dark Net," something that can't be found on search engines like Google.
"In the Dark Net in particular you can hire people to do murders, you can buy drugs," says Bucci. "And so things like suicide vests or weapons are definitely available in that area."
Members of the European Union held a "crisis meeting" recently to see what can be done to better regulate digital currency to stop potential terrorists from getting the upper hand.
"The bad guys are not dumb," Sen. Cornyn says. "Many of them are very shrewd, very smart and they'll try to find a weakness and exploit them, whether it's in financing or communications or radicalization."
"Sometimes the bad guys get ahead of us," says Bucci. "But we usually catch up and exceed them when we need to, but it's a constant battle."
http://kutv.com/news/nation-world/bitcoin-proves-to-be-prime-cash-for-terrorists
