Is bitcoin used by criminals ?

[Bounty_Hunter]

I think in nowadays criminals use more anonymous coins like dash, xmror zcash.

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[Bitcoinnumberone]

it will come down to how much.

bitcoin is a currency and like any other currencies like USD,... it is used for a wide variety of reasons by different types of people. if 90% of the usage were for illegal activities then talking about it was justified. but the usage of bitcoin for anything illegal is less than 5% and possibly now it is near 0% because of the fees.

at some point in the past it may have been different though. by the time bitcoin was new and people didn't know that bitcoin is not anonymous and also by the time the real anon coins like Monero were not around or popular. now everyone who wants to do something illegal and remain anonymous either uses USD cash or uses anon coins like Monero.

Well, this could be the negative side of bitcoin, that it could be used for illegal purposes since its character is anonymity. This could indeed be capitalized by those whose motives are crooked. Let us just hope that this will not be the only consideration for bitcoin to be banned.

[Kocret02]

there is no criminal word when people use bitcoin, only in countries that prohibit bitcoin from saying that. because now this bitcoin is a work and it does not violate the law as long as the user does not use for negative and disadvantage.

[kendra1107]

Here's a link for some insights.
https://www.luno.com/learn/en/article/is-bitcoin-used-by-criminals

This question has been asked for several times on this forum but remained to be an interesting topic for many simply because we are involved in the same system. Unfortunately, there are bad elements that are using the system for fraudulent activities. We must understand that the system is not the culprit, but the people behind these illegal movements.

[kolitski]

Probably most of the criminals are doing this as they say but i hope it will not happen that illegal activities can do here in crypto currency because criminals have no place here in crypto currency only for the poor people wanted to rich in bitcoin.

[sopromat]

I feel that if money and internet is being used by criminals, I see no reason why bitcoin won't be used by criminals. How much more that Bitcoin transaction is decentralized and can't be traced to a particular persons. It avails criminals more leverage to store up their wealth.

[CryptoNick23]

This is possible due to bitcoin features.

[Arisgado]

Something that can make money is usually there are many criminals  no matter what kind it is and bitcoin is not different, since bitcoin is the new thing for the financial world they might use it. But that doesn't mean that bitcoins aids criminals. Bitcoin only a thing but people have a brain they know what is good and wrong.

[bitcoinajax455]

Maybe bitcoin will be used my those criminals, becouse bitcoin is a digital money. But I don't think how they used it in crimes. The bitcoin connot stop those criminals. Bitcoin is easy to use because it is decentralized. It is possible that criminals will also use bitcoin.

[Marileno]

Roads, trains, cars, planes, bridges, cash, credit cards ect ect are all also used by criminals. Should we shut them down too?

The whole argument that because BTC is used by some of the illegal elements in society, and as such it serves no purpose are ridiculous imo.

[Betinbtc.net]

By presumption decentralization is good, anonymity as well, but people are bad. I am asking myself more often recently do we need it.   Mostly shady people are using those features and regular Joe is not giving a shit about it.

[kirito1614]

Everything is utilized by lawbreakers, not simply Bitcoin. Without a doubt, the immense dominant part of the culprits are utilizing fiat. The more hazardous ones are unquestionably utilizing fiat. They are the ones who are wearing suits and are possessing high positions in the administrations of various nations and in the best official places of different worldwide organizations. In the low level, even scissors and singing container and pins are utilized by culprits also.

[Paopao]

I think Easy and difficult to track bitcoin users will make it easier for users to maintain the confidentiality of their data. This is what causes them (criminals) to commit a crime, they take advantage of the advantages possessed by bitcoin for criminal acts. I think this is a negative action someone does in using bitcoin, the fact that at this time increases cyber crime because of crypto.

[rockstarr]

When Bitcoin is just starting it is widely used in illegal activities especially in deep web but Bitcoin is just another currency (digital) that can be used by anyone, but even fiat currency is also used by criminals, drug lords, terrorist or used in any different kinds of illegal things. But the thing is Bitcoin is more on the positive side right now because it is possible to trace Bitcoin and possibly get caught if you use it on inappropriate way, and there are already altcoins that can give fully anonymity to its users when transacting, like Monero and Verge and I think criminals are now switching to those altcoins.

It could be possible for the criminals to used bitcoin because there are rumors about it. Some says that it is been use as payment for illegal transaction long time ago when bitcoin is not really known yet. Few illegal things result to crime.

[francesyrus]

Yeah, I think some are using bitcoin in doing illegal activity like drug trade, human trafficking and the like. Crypto currency is also being used by some in doing investment scams wherein they promise that your investment will grow faster. At first they will pay you but when you invest more btc its time for them to run away your money.

[brylle34]

everything has prons(positive) and cons(negative) sides, like bitcoin, it is easy to buy and sell anything under the sun without using physical cash, like selling illegal drugs, fake money, weapons, human trafficking etc. but bitcoin has more positive sides too like if you want to send your money to you loved ones when your working abroad, transactions are also easy for buying, and also giving to charities. All in all this is reality even if you have physical money if you want to do bad things it isn't impossible.

[kcucchia]

Any criminal with half a brain would never use Bitcoin. Earlier this year you may remember there was a story about how a U.S. lady used "bitcoin" to send money to ISIS - She was arrested. Allegedly.

Link: http://bitcoinist.com/woman-arrested-sending-60000-bitcoin-isis/
Link: https://nypost.com/2017/12/14/woman-busted-sending-thousands-in-bitcoin-to-isis/

Now there are some key points to consider/remember with regards to this story. And this in part is my opinion - but I believe I am right (dont let my Newbie rank fool you).

Remember:  Governements are petrified of Cryptocurrency.

Consider:     80% of the world is very gullible (using the 80/20 rule) and will believe whatever is jammed down their throat by the media without questioning it. Especially when both the Left and the Right are aspousing the same "facts."

Now keeping the above 2 points in mind - answer for me these questions..
1) Why can I not find a picture of this alleged ISIS supporter ANYWHERE online?
2) Why would a criminal - who, in an effort to support ISIS, who we can at least concede was a well organized group run by at least somewhat savvy people (despite their being the scum of the earth) - elect to send the money in "Bitcoins" as opposed to any one of the Private/Secure/Untraceable cryptocurrencies available? Why not use Z-Cash? Verge? Crave? Bytecoin? -- Pardon me, but I'll give ISIS the credit of being slightly more intelligent than the common criminal peasant.
3) Why was there absolutely NO coverage of this criminal trial in the news? Are we assume she was sent to Guantanamo without due process?

Why? I'll tell you why. This story is FAKE NEWS. Complete and utter deception. This was the beginning of the process of the US government's attempt to brainwash the American people. The beginning of their attempt to diminish crypto, and cast it in the light of something that is used on black markets to hurt the U.S. and other Western countries. Hell - Venezuela and their dictator Nick Maduro are even making their own backed by their oil, and Belarus, the final dictatorship in Europe, intends to become a HAVEN for this "Criminal enterprise," I'm sure they'll try to argue.

This entire story is a scam. A disgraceful attempt to deceive people and make the idea of destroying this space that 95% of people around the world DON'T understand a bit more palpable, before more people begin to understand what it's capabilities are. Little by little by little - Global governments will try to diminish and destroy something beautiful because they are powerless to completely control it. But they can certainly diminish it. Remain vigilant, and don't believe everything you read. Fight the good fight.

#FAKENEWS

[Ishiro5]

Anything can be used by criminals for whatever purpose, for instance, money laundering has been a major challenge of the world ever before bitcoin was conceived. Yes bitcoin is anonymous, but what we can do is to make it better.

[gandame]

Maybe some people used bitcoin for illegal purposes because its unknown source and no one can know who doing the transaction. So we cannot avoid it that bitcoin can use by the criminals.

[rollingstorm45]

could be so
because we know that, transactions that occur in blockchain owned by bitcoin, a user can make a wallet without having to do KYC
so the anonymity of a person's data can be very secure which causes the crime to transact using BTC