Is bitcoin being used for illegal activities

[Mr.grin]

Yes bitcoin is widely used for illegal purpose because it is pseudonymous and do criminals find out much safer to use bitcoin for transaction rather then real currency. There is no way to track the user who is sending money to whom. So it's of comfort for them.

you're right, I guess because bitcoin, illegal transactions into transactions safe and controlled, but I still think that it can be traced if the world's major organizations such as the FBI is seeking its path, but I believe it will also be difficult and requires a very long time.

[1714821054]

1714821054

[bitllionaire]

Yes bitcoin is widely used for illegal purpose because it is pseudonymous and do criminals find out much safer to use bitcoin for transaction rather then real currency. There is no way to track the user who is sending money to whom. So it's of comfort for them.

i think no one has clear evidence about the fact that bitcoin is using for illegal activities, because of its anonymous character, may it is using for illegal activities but not as on a such a larg scale as still  very little number of people know about bitcoins,

[Senor.Bla]

Yes bitcoin is widely used for illegal purpose because it is pseudonymous and do criminals find out much safer to use bitcoin for transaction rather then real currency. There is no way to track the user who is sending money to whom. So it's of comfort for them.

i think no one has clear evidence about the fact that bitcoin is using for illegal activities, because of its anonymous character, may it is using for illegal activities but not as on a such a larg scale as still  very little number of people know about bitcoins,

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users. 

[Roboabhishek]

There is no way to prevent the bad use of fiat neither bitcoin or other altcoins, the owner can use it for anything he does wanna, the only thing that will show is the adress being used for such transaction, knowing its pseudo anonymous we dont know what are the funds for. Bitcoin has attracted several drug dealers, and the famous silk road, that were closed in the begining, but dark markeplaces keep playing and there is no way to stop all forever.

That's why there's a freedom for every users to do what they desire for their bitcoins. However, anything they committed illegal will have to be dealt accordingly with the law when caught. People will bad or illegal intension will always do, but in my case I would not try, it's hard to end up the rest of our life in jail.

Looking at the anonymity of bitcoin it's nearly impossible for the government to find someone doing illegal stuff.. most likely when someone is doing that will use temporary bitcoin address.

if that so,give me the reason why silkroad could be traced down and being seized their bitcoin? some expert here said bitcoin is actually pseudo-anonymous,could be traced down by using some sort of explorer like what another altcoin can,and it's definitely not impossible to be traced down,even easier than fiat,but you can still hide your identity by doing some step

Hiding can be continuously, until it was of interest to your person. If you engage in illegal business and use bitcoin for it, sooner or later, it will still come to an end.

what kind of end you are trying to say ?
i think you are trying to say that someone can trace your transactions with blockchain ?
so let me tell you what if you use coinbase for this purpose they send your payments from different address every time.

[bolenath]

Of course bitcoin is used for illegal activities..

But it is hardly as anonymous as cash..

[Cereberus]

There is no way to prevent the bad use of fiat neither bitcoin or other altcoins, the owner can use it for anything he does wanna, the only thing that will show is the adress being used for such transaction, knowing its pseudo anonymous we dont know what are the funds for. Bitcoin has attracted several drug dealers, and the famous silk road, that were closed in the begining, but dark markeplaces keep playing and there is no way to stop all forever.

That's why there's a freedom for every users to do what they desire for their bitcoins. However, anything they committed illegal will have to be dealt accordingly with the law when caught. People will bad or illegal intension will always do, but in my case I would not try, it's hard to end up the rest of our life in jail.

Looking at the anonymity of bitcoin it's nearly impossible for the government to find someone doing illegal stuff.. most likely when someone is doing that will use temporary bitcoin address.

if that so,give me the reason why silkroad could be traced down and being seized their bitcoin? some expert here said bitcoin is actually pseudo-anonymous,could be traced down by using some sort of explorer like what another altcoin can,and it's definitely not impossible to be traced down,even easier than fiat,but you can still hide your identity by doing some step

Hiding can be continuously, until it was of interest to your person. If you engage in illegal business and use bitcoin for it, sooner or later, it will still come to an end.

what kind of end you are trying to say ?
i think you are trying to say that someone can trace your transactions with blockchain ?
so let me tell you what if you use coinbase for this purpose they send your payments from different address every time.

It's difficult to trace certain transactions and link them together if you know what you are doing (i.e you are using different wallets, you try to mix your coins with gambling websites, deposit from one wallet place a bet and then withdraw to another wallet).

Even if the case that they find that some address belong to you , unless you do something stupid they cannot find your real identity. It's very difficult to find the real IP address of a certain wallet. I don't know to explain it further but the IP you see in the network propagation at the blockchain website it's not the real IP. What I want to say is that unless you do something stupid you will not get caught.

I.E doing something stupid. Putting the server of Silk Road on North Carolina, USA. This is called plain stupid.

[Doamader]

Yes bitcoin is widely used for illegal purpose because it is pseudonymous and do criminals find out much safer to use bitcoin for transaction rather then real currency. There is no way to track the user who is sending money to whom. So it's of comfort for them.

you're right, I guess because bitcoin, illegal transactions into transactions safe and controlled, but I still think that it can be traced if the world's major organizations such as the FBI is seeking its path, but I believe it will also be difficult and requires a very long time.

If FBI were such amazing as you sugesting here, they would already handled the fiat ilegal activities, as well bitcoin dark transactions, silk road were closed, but now there are several more silk roads working, and there is no way to stop those activity at bitcoin neither fiat.

[blackmachinegun]

Yes bitcoin is widely used for illegal purpose because it is pseudonymous and do criminals find out much safer to use bitcoin for transaction rather then real currency. There is no way to track the user who is sending money to whom. So it's of comfort for them.

yeah with bitcoin facilities that give ease and comfort to secrecy, it makes a lot of criminals exploit this to conduct illegal transactions, we can not prohibit them, because the user is free to use for any bitcoin

[bryant.coleman]

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users.  

Most of those who were jailed, got the jail terms not for bitcoin usage, but for helping people to buy drugs using BTC or for abetting money laundering. However, in rare cases, BItcoin users faced prosecution just for using Bitcoin. A well known example is that of Burt Wagner. His funds and laptops were seized, and although in the end he was acquitted, he lost all his life savings. More details can be found in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0  

[Selly Arumsari]

I see more and more acrticles of bitcoin being used for illegal activities
will this hurt bitcoin in the long run , will governments ban this just like they started to do wih paying in cash for some services
to harden the use of illegal , and money laundering

i think bitcoin is not illegal ativities, people just use to transaction and there is mining it ..
but my goverment not yet be came it legal and use it as payment

[Senor.Bla]

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users.  

Most of those who were jailed, got the jail terms not for bitcoin usage, but for helping people to buy drugs using BTC or for abetting money laundering. However, in rare cases, BItcoin users faced prosecution just for using Bitcoin. A well known example is that of Burt Wagner. His funds and laptops were seized, and although in the end he was acquitted, he lost all his life savings. More details can be found in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0  

true and i would like to point out that the question op ask here is: is bitcoin used for illegal activities and not if using bitcoin is an illegal activity. so the rare cases where you got in trouble just using bitcoin are the ones to worry, but i am fine with the other ones. 

[mirakal]

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users.  

Most of those who were jailed, got the jail terms not for bitcoin usage, but for helping people to buy drugs using BTC or for abetting money laundering. However, in rare cases, BItcoin users faced prosecution just for using Bitcoin. A well known example is that of Burt Wagner. His funds and laptops were seized, and although in the end he was acquitted, he lost all his life savings. More details can be found in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0  

true and i would like to point out that the question op ask here is: is bitcoin used for illegal activities and not if using bitcoin is an illegal activity. so the rare cases where you got in trouble just using bitcoin are the ones to worry, but i am fine with the other ones.  

Well, I'll answer that for you, it is certainly use for illegal activities but not mainly for illegal activities. I still believe that the major portion in the circulation are use for legitimate activities like trading and our money making activity.

[Senor.Bla]

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users.  

Most of those who were jailed, got the jail terms not for bitcoin usage, but for helping people to buy drugs using BTC or for abetting money laundering. However, in rare cases, BItcoin users faced prosecution just for using Bitcoin. A well known example is that of Burt Wagner. His funds and laptops were seized, and although in the end he was acquitted, he lost all his life savings. More details can be found in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0  

true and i would like to point out that the question op ask here is: is bitcoin used for illegal activities and not if using bitcoin is an illegal activity. so the rare cases where you got in trouble just using bitcoin are the ones to worry, but i am fine with the other ones.  

Well, I'll answer that for you, it is certainly use for illegal activities but not mainly for illegal activities. I still believe that the major portion in the circulation are use for legitimate activities like trading and our money making activity.

oh i am not sure if it is mainly used for legal activities. how would you define that? what if only a small portion of transactions are illegal but those are very high transactions of let us say 1,000 bitcoin each. and btw. i so often hear that you do not have to pay taxes with bitcoin, so i guess most consider not paying taxes as legal.

[madwica]

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users.  

Most of those who were jailed, got the jail terms not for bitcoin usage, but for helping people to buy drugs using BTC or for abetting money laundering. However, in rare cases, BItcoin users faced prosecution just for using Bitcoin. A well known example is that of Burt Wagner. His funds and laptops were seized, and although in the end he was acquitted, he lost all his life savings. More details can be found in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0  

true and i would like to point out that the question op ask here is: is bitcoin used for illegal activities and not if using bitcoin is an illegal activity. so the rare cases where you got in trouble just using bitcoin are the ones to worry, but i am fine with the other ones.  

Well, I'll answer that for you, it is certainly use for illegal activities but not mainly for illegal activities. I still believe that the major portion in the circulation are use for legitimate activities like trading and our money making activity.

I think also that most of the bitcoin users used the bitcoin in legitimate transaction because bitcoin has a great services that everybody can be benefited that is why more users using it legally to maintain the bitcoin existence.

[stomachgrowls]

i think there are some cases with a clear evidence. also people want to jail or were prosecuted that were using bitcoin. bitcoin itself might be small but you can expect a high percentage of illegal activities among bitcoin users.  

Most of those who were jailed, got the jail terms not for bitcoin usage, but for helping people to buy drugs using BTC or for abetting money laundering. However, in rare cases, BItcoin users faced prosecution just for using Bitcoin. A well known example is that of Burt Wagner. His funds and laptops were seized, and although in the end he was acquitted, he lost all his life savings. More details can be found in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=934268.0  

true and i would like to point out that the question op ask here is: is bitcoin used for illegal activities and not if using bitcoin is an illegal activity. so the rare cases where you got in trouble just using bitcoin are the ones to worry, but i am fine with the other ones.  

Well, I'll answer that for you, it is certainly use for illegal activities but not mainly for illegal activities. I still believe that the major portion in the circulation are use for legitimate activities like trading and our money making activity.

I think also that most of the bitcoin users used the bitcoin in legitimate transaction because bitcoin has a great services that everybody can be benefited that is why more users using it legally to maintain the bitcoin existence.

You could definitely say that because you are seeing only the surface transactions which are legitimate but if you tend to dig up on  darknet you could really say that lots of  transactions is happening there and most  of transactions are  illegal which is normal for bitcoin to be used.

[Aamir1]

I think also that most of the bitcoin users used the bitcoin in legitimate transaction because bitcoin has a great services that everybody can be benefited that is why more users using it legally to maintain the bitcoin existence.

No matter if a person uses bitcoin in a wrong way as long as he is not doing it openly, because no one would even come to know if bitcoin was used for something bad if the person does not do something that is clear to the public which can result a bad reputation for bitcoin in the community outside this.

[Harlot]

I think also that most of the bitcoin users used the bitcoin in legitimate transaction because bitcoin has a great services that everybody can be benefited that is why more users using it legally to maintain the bitcoin existence.

No matter if a person uses bitcoin in a wrong way as long as he is not doing it openly, because no one would even come to know if bitcoin was used for something bad if the person does not do something that is clear to the public which can result a bad reputation for bitcoin in the community outside this.

Well if we are talking about it in the perspective of Bitcoin then for the sake of its reputation we need to use it in a legal way, but let us remember all currencies that are in the world are being used in both legal and illegal means. Well I never heard of any Fiat currency having a bad reputation because it is used in buying of drugs anyway.

[afinilexpress]

I think also that most of the bitcoin users used the bitcoin in legitimate transaction because bitcoin has a great services that everybody can be benefited that is why more users using it legally to maintain the bitcoin existence.

No matter if a person uses bitcoin in a wrong way as long as he is not doing it openly, because no one would even come to know if bitcoin was used for something bad if the person does not do something that is clear to the public which can result a bad reputation for bitcoin in the community outside this.

Well if we are talking about it in the perspective of Bitcoin then for the sake of its reputation we need to use it in a legal way, but let us remember all currencies that are in the world are being used in both legal and illegal means. Well I never heard of any Fiat currency having a bad reputation because it is used in buying of drugs anyway.

What if you were to use bitcoin to buy marijuana in certain states where it is still banned? And in those states where local laws do allow purchase and consumption of moderate amounts, they are still violating federal law. All this ending up to the question: what is illegal?

[Sithara007]

What if you were to use bitcoin to buy marijuana in certain states where it is still banned? And in those states where local laws do allow purchase and consumption of moderate amounts, they are still violating federal law. All this ending up to the question: what is illegal?

There is a huge grey zone in legal sector, where the legality is open to differing interpretations. Even in states where recreational marijuana is legal, purchasing it through a dark market using Bitcoin may be illegal. Anything related to marijuana is in the grey zone.

[Wandering Soul~]

What if you were to use bitcoin to buy marijuana in certain states where it is still banned? And in those states where local laws do allow purchase and consumption of moderate amounts, they are still violating federal law. All this ending up to the question: what is illegal?

There is a huge grey zone in legal sector, where the legality is open to differing interpretations. Even in states where recreational marijuana is legal, purchasing it through a dark market using Bitcoin may be illegal. Anything related to marijuana is in the grey zone.

It depends on what country you're living in and where did you buy it? Each country has a different laws but international laws applies to all people regardless of what country they're living in .

Yes the country that you're living in must find marijuana legal if its use with a good purpose and the dealer where you will bought marijuana must be authorized for your transaction to be considered legal and seriously, We all know that dark market is illegal .

Here in our country, Marijuana is completely banned regardless of its purpose so its better to stay away with it .