Bitcoin and illegal activities

[maxreish]

Oh well, the data shows clearly how cryptocurrency used in illegal ways. That is why it is not yet fully accepted because of that reason. It can be a tool for scamming innocent people and the anonymous transactions make them to urge this kind of act. No meet ups for transactions and that is their way of exchanging cryptocurrency into fiat. If you also noticed, crypto payments were also used in black market.
 
 Anyway, even not in cryptocurrency. Scammers really exists when there is money involved and they just find cryptocurrency as the target because of the hype and it is started to become known by the people.

[isaac_clarke22]

That's quite sharp for a spike in the charts.
I never expected that there would be more scammers rather than criminals using Bitcoin like those people in the dark web that uses Bitcoin to buy illegal stuffs and services.
Since anonymity comes in hand in Bitcoin, this is pretty much half unsurprising already. Like there would even be paid course I saw in a banner out here to teach how to use Bitcoin while you can use the internet to learn it by yourself for free.

[Wintersoldier]

Most of us always question if bitcoin is the best refuge for criminals and scammers and activities such as stealing funds, money laundering, terrorism financing and all sort of illegal activities.

The reality is that a total of 11.5$ billion worth of cryptocurrencies were associated with criminal activity which represents only 1.1% of cryptocurrencies transaction volume in 2019  according to chainalysis. The graphic below tells us that the most common type of crimes is not money laundering nor terrorism financing, it is the act which we all see every day: scamming.

Share us your thought about this matter and if someone knows any other resource that can give us a more detailed view, please provide it.


source: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/cryptocurrency-crime-2020-report

Indeed. It is really hard to believe, but it is all true because bitcoin was first known in the dark web and in the black market that it is being used as a mode of payment in illegal activities such as selling drugs, armed guns, and other illegal stuffs, that is why other countries don't want to accept cryptocurrency.

[maxig.boroday]

not surprising as we know if it will benefit their illegal activities, they will be using it

[stompix]

secondly, you should compare it with fiat. for example how much fiat is being used in illegal activities. i'd say for every $1 worth of bitcoin there is $1 million US dollar that goes into illegal activities such as money laundering and funding terrorism.

Hehe, daily transactions in BTC are about 2 billion. Let's say that not 1% but 0.1% are illegal. It would come to 2 million.
So, if it's a 1:1 000 000, each day we have 2 trillion (annual GDP if Spain) in funding daily terrorism and money laundering.
Or 700 trillion a year which is simply 10 times the world GDP. 

Why do we always have to compare bitcoin with fiat and paint it like were angels or something?

Gold is used for smuggling, silver is used to launder money, alcohol and cigarettes are used for bribery in my country during communism, now toilet paper and disinfectant are used  you can't stop it.

Shit is happening and it will happen..better ignore it altoghether

first of all a report published by a blockchain analysis business is not a reliable source of information specially chainanalysis since they always exaggerate all their results and they do it to advertise their business and attract potential clients. not to mention that there is always a huge margin of error in what they have been doing.

Yeah, those guys at chainanalysis are really annoying, there is no month when they won't come with some 'report" how they uncovered this and that..
When it comes to the real stuff, they fail on tracking anything beyond "the hacker then sent coins to binance"....

[Idiophone]

If someone thinks crypto ban will reduce the amount of laundering and darknet traffic, he's silly. Crypto is just a tool, all the crimes are made by people, if crypto won't work, they'll switch to something else.

[SUMBI99]

Oh well, the data shows clearly how cryptocurrency used in illegal ways. That is why it is not yet fully accepted because of that reason. It can be a tool for scamming innocent people and the anonymous transactions make them to urge this kind of act. No meet ups for transactions and that is their way of exchanging cryptocurrency into fiat. If you also noticed, crypto payments were also used in black market.
 
 Anyway, even not in cryptocurrency. Scammers really exists when there is money involved and they just find cryptocurrency as the target because of the hype and it is started to become known by the people.

Actually yes Bitcoin transactions hide scammers and  influence the uses on the black market , but this market exist before 2009 when it was the discovery of Bitcoin and blockchain, in general, this is not a strong factor for not accepting Bitcoin

[Jackot33]

The anonymous advantage of bitcoin is what makes it look like a shady activity enabled because fiat can't really do such an activities otherwise it would be labelled as money laundering. shuttle Paris However, whether genuine businesses thrive with both or not, some people have zeroed their minds on a negative outcome and not for positive but for me, I look at the positive which is that it is convenient to transact whenever you are.

You're right

[groko271]

It would be good to see a data comparison of cryptocurrency vs fiat and their perspective illegal activities. 1% will not be a big deal when we compare it with fiat money. With fiat, a huge percent of illegal activities is going on.

The research is already done by Messari, it turns out that fiat is used in illegal transactions much more often.


https://www.ccn.com/fiat-money-outpaces-bitcoin-by-8001-for-nefarious-activities-report/

In my opinion, the reason bitcoin remains not so popular among criminals is transparency of blockchain and its ability to keep information about any activity forever. While cash transactions are barely trackable due to impossibility of recording numbers of all "taint" banknotes, bitcoin blockchain is always open and everything is recording by default. Despite the fact that there are many available methods to obfuscate transactions in bitcoin, all information is still open and forever written. As blockchain analysis methods are constantly being improved, it becomes possible to interpret past transactions.

thanks for posting this. I was looking for something similar regarding cash comparison to bitcoin regarding illegal activity. I would estimate a much higher % attributed for illagal activity using cash. Cash has no blockchain and is like bearer bonds imo.

[pooya87]

secondly, you should compare it with fiat. for example how much fiat is being used in illegal activities. i'd say for every $1 worth of bitcoin there is $1 million US dollar that goes into illegal activities such as money laundering and funding terrorism.

Hehe, daily transactions in BTC are about 2 billion. Let's say that not 1% but 0.1% are illegal. It would come to 2 million.
So, if it's a 1:1 000 000, each day we have 2 trillion (annual GDP if Spain) in funding daily terrorism and money laundering.
Or 700 trillion a year which is simply 10 times the world GDP. 

Why do we always have to compare bitcoin with fiat and paint it like were angels or something?

because i love giving exaggerated stats in response to exaggerated topics that are throwing big ass numbers around based on nothing. besides it is not far fetched either, you say 0.1%, i say it is far less than that. CMC reports bitcoin trading volume in past 24 hours is $43 billion, most of that $2 billion is from traders that are running around like headless chickens.
besides, terrorists raise funds through extortion (local currency), taxation (local currency), selling oil (USD), robbing (various fiat) and receiving government support from countries such as US, UAE,... (again in USD). none of these methods are using cryptocurrencies!

[witcher_sense]

If someone thinks crypto ban will reduce the amount of laundering and darknet traffic, he's silly. Crypto is just a tool, all the crimes are made by people, if crypto won't work, they'll switch to something else.

That's merely an excuse to ban anything. Almost every advanced technology has been used in criminal activity. Advanced technology is being used by criminals right now. No one trying to ban them, because not only bad people use technology, but everyone else, common people. If every new invention used by criminals had experienced ban or other serious impediments,  we would live in cold caves today. We wouldn't have evolved as society at all. Banning anything that may be useful for humanity leads to degradation of society.

[Bountyhonter]

I don't think that the amount of Bitcoin used for illegal activities can actually be know because illegal activities are private and people can't know if or when it happens or how much of Bitcoin was used for the transaction.

[Zionatin]

People need to get smart about things and not fall for silly scams like they do. Crypto being used for illigal activities is one of the few things people who dislike bitcoin can use against it. People are always doing that. These are not reasonable people to begin with and their opinions should be void. I've never heard of a drug dealer accepting bitcoin xD People say you can buy drugs with bitcoin. You can also do that with fiat and online too. The bank won't know what you are buying they will only know how much you sent. A bitcoin wallet can be traced so it is more risky.

[camito]

Most of us always question if bitcoin is the best refuge for criminals and scammers and activities such as stealing funds, money laundering, terrorism financing and all sort of illegal activities.

The reality is that a total of 11.5$ billion worth of cryptocurrencies were associated with criminal activity which represents only 1.1% of cryptocurrencies transaction volume in 2019  according to chainalysis. The graphic below tells us that the most common type of crimes is not money laundering nor terrorism financing, it is the act which we all see every day: scamming.

Share us your thought about this matter and if someone knows any other resource that can give us a more detailed view, please provide it.


source: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/cryptocurrency-crime-2020-report

Cybercrime is one of the most fearsome crimes we know. There are lots of ways for illegal traders and identity thieves to get through our barriers and feed on our social and accounts. I am seeing news on tv about scammers greedily wanting for money in any sort of way. This 1.1% stats mean a lot also when we are talking about cryptocurrency. Most scammers now know the power of digital trading and being the person that they are, they attack vulnerable people such as those people who are easily fooled, newbies, and even those who believe with easy money. Protection and caution must always be exercised to avoid future graphs increasing like this.

[dhonniii]

Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 by a mysterious figure using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. It can be used to buy or sell items from people and companies that accept bitcoin as payment, but it differs in several key ways from traditional currencies. Bitcoin is trending now you can get more information on https://unlockmytv.fun/ ,Thank you.

[FlightyPouch]

The anonymous advantage of bitcoin is what makes it look like a shady activity enabled because fiat can't really do such an activities otherwise it would be labelled as money laundering. However, whether genuine businesses thrive with both or not, some people have zeroed their minds on a negative outcome and not for positive but for me, I look at the positive which is that it is convenient to transact whenever you are.

How can you say that fiat can't really do that? Way back, even without crypto currrencies, fiat is being used to launder money, to scam people, to hack to computers and take their bank accounts or other accounts to applications that could take their money, it is still being done using fiat. It is said that 2-5% of the global GDP is being laundered, we can't say that they are using crypto currencies but I don't think they are. Comparing to the chart the OP used, $11.5 billion are associated with criminal activities, and not all of them are being laundered, while the money being laundered globally is 2-5% of the global GDP which is $800 billion - $2 trillion in current US dollars. Looks cute, isn't it? We're not even talking about other criminal activities such as scam and hacking.

[Arkann]

Cybercrime is one of the most fearsome crimes we know. There are lots of ways for illegal traders and identity thieves to get through our barriers and feed on our social and accounts. I am seeing news on tv about scammers greedily wanting for money in any sort of way. This 1.1% stats mean a lot also when we are talking about cryptocurrency. Most scammers now know the power of digital trading and being the person that they are, they attack vulnerable people such as those people who are easily fooled, newbies, and even those who believe with easy money. Protection and caution must always be exercised to avoid future graphs increasing like this.

We constantly hear negative news about cryptocurrency and how they use cryptocurrency in illegal activities, tax evasion and crime financing.  On the other hand, many cryptocurrency users oppose the provision of passport data and control by the government and express their opinion that cryptocurrencies, in particular bitcoin, do not need legalization, since today cryptocurrency is already fully used by people.  But I believe that the words "fully", This is a wrong definition of the current situation, since we are only at the very beginning of the development of the entire cryptocurrency market.  I believe that without a certain control of crime and fraud with the help of cryptocurrencies will increase and this must be put to an end.  In order for the government not to make negative statements against cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency must be recognized as digital assets and a means of payment, so that the relevant regulatory authorities can protect not only the state from crime, but also protect cryptocurrency users, since on the one hand, cryptocurrency provides unlimited possibilities for a person, But with  on the other hand, a person who owns cryptocurrency at any time may suffer from an attacker.

[yazher]

In every kind of currencies whether it's fiat or in the form of digital money, you will always find some fraudster who wanted to take advantage of every situation like what we have seen in the crypto industry. In the meantime, let's just think that this kind of situation is normal in the crypto industry because they are not yet fully validated in most parts of the world. that's why we always see some flaws like this one. criminals are often using cryptocurrencies for their shady transactions.

[fiulpro]

The thing is , even when you consider Currencies that we are using , one cannot put a tag on how the paper money itself is being used , it is really impossible to find the criminal activities which are fuled by money itself so Fiat is much worse than us .
So whenever anyone says that Bitcoins is for criminal activities your should tell them how , the Fiat you are so sure of is no better .
It is even worse..... You cannot stop people who want to find opportunities to engage in dirty work , they will do so no matter what.

[Strufmbae]

Talking about Illegal  activities running through the web are widespread specially on darkweb and deepweb.
The Iceberg itself talks about how many transaction are running daily.
 Cryptocurrency is the main Tradeable asset that can be used on daily transaction Basis and Bitcoin is the main course.