Bitcoin usage in crime activity.

[CryptSafe]

Hello crypto bros.
Today I want to discuss a pretty big problem that bitcoin adoption is facing.
Bitcoin is great in means of anonymous transactions and getting away from the banks and government control, but the problem is, it's the exact problem why criminals are using it. And it's a pretty big one. I'm not saying that criminals use bitcoin more than fiat, but we all can see that illegal services are widely accepting bitcoin.

The problem here is that the system should have some way to fight these criminals because we don't want bitcoin to be associated with drugs and sex trafficking,  but the problem is, by solving these problems we should get rid of anonymity which is a pillar for the bitcoin technology, so it can't be done. And this problem might be a big obstacle in mass bitcoin adoption and regulations that are coming.

So I want to hear your opinion: how to make bitcoin technology "safer" so we could fight a crime committed with crypto and help with bitcoin adoption without taking away the main features of bitcoin like decentralization and anonymity?

OP you have spoken well but I would want you to know that the inception of every technology has its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantage in the sense that a technology being developed accordingly has benefits to the end users or if you may like,the society at large to help cushion some side effects and make things normal and working well for the populace and the disadvantages is that the technology could be exploited by some elements in the form of humans who always are looking for a means to commit a crime and escape without any trace. That is the situation of bitcoin now and there is no much big deal about it.
However, as you have stated, bitcoin by origin is designed for anonymous transaction and to by pass government and every other third party engagements in transactions but to be frank with your post there has never been a situation where there was no recorded exploit in a technological innovation. Bitcoin is not exempted from that as well but it is our responsibility to safeguard our assets very well so as to avoid unnecessary stress and pressure as a result of hack.

It is for this reasons exchanges came to existence and you should know that unset from the inception of exchanges government took advantage of it to introduce the KYC policy so as to know bitcoin holders and as well monitoring transactions.

So therefore, there has never been a situation where crimes have not been recorded with new technological innovation but there should be a way to cushion the effect ydo as not to make it too obvious that such technology was innovated for such purpose.

[famososMuertos]

You move in the Bitcoin wave and that is why you perhaps mention that it is used for criminal acts, but... and where such a situation does not happen (!?)

There is  even used as payments works of art, for example, on the other hand you have an incorrect approach, since Bitcoin can be traced and it is in In any case,  ideal to have more chances of finding these criminals than those who use traditional money or, as I said, works of art.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Hello crypto bros.
Today I want to discuss a pretty big problem that bitcoin adoption is facing.
Bitcoin is great in means of anonymous transactions and getting away from the banks and government control, but the problem is, it's the exact problem why criminals are using it. And it's a pretty big one. I'm not saying that criminals use bitcoin more than fiat, but we all can see that illegal services are widely accepting bitcoin.

The problem here is that the system should have some way to fight these criminals because we don't want bitcoin to be associated with drugs and sex trafficking,  but the problem is, by solving these problems we should get rid of anonymity which is a pillar for the bitcoin technology, so it can't be done. And this problem might be a big obstacle in mass bitcoin adoption and regulations that are coming.

So I want to hear your opinion: how to make bitcoin technology "safer" so we could fight a crime committed with crypto and help with bitcoin adoption without taking away the main features of bitcoin like decentralization and anonymity?

I don't know exactly what you are thinking, but i believe it would interest you to know that, even before Bitcoin came into existence, this crimes have been, drug, human, arm trafficking, robbery of all sort and of different levels, this crimes and even more have been in place and were being committed and the perpetrators getting away with it without being caught.

Now bitcoin came and because of its features, like the anonymity and decentralized nature of bitcoin, several persons began to believe that every transactions carried out by criminals are done in bitcoin, forgetting totally that way before bitcoin came, even with the high centralized fiat currencies as the only means of exchange, this crimes have been, and even if bitcoin seize to be, this crimes will still continue to be because most of it are funded by dirty politicians.

[mv1986]

Hello crypto bros.
Today I want to discuss a pretty big problem that bitcoin adoption is facing.
Bitcoin is great in means of anonymous transactions and getting away from the banks and government control, but the problem is, it's the exact problem why criminals are using it. And it's a pretty big one. I'm not saying that criminals use bitcoin more than fiat, but we all can see that illegal services are widely accepting bitcoin.

The problem here is that the system should have some way to fight these criminals because we don't want bitcoin to be associated with drugs and sex trafficking,  but the problem is, by solving these problems we should get rid of anonymity which is a pillar for the bitcoin technology, so it can't be done. And this problem might be a big obstacle in mass bitcoin adoption and regulations that are coming.

So I want to hear your opinion: how to make bitcoin technology "safer" so we could fight a crime committed with crypto and help with bitcoin adoption without taking away the main features of bitcoin like decentralization and anonymity?

There are a couple of things that you seem to be confusing hereof not fully understand why Bitcoin is valuable. Any technology that reduces friction will be used by criminals and there is nothing you can do against it. Whenever something is useful for people, it will also be useful for those with bad intentions.

I also doubt that it would have any influence on the overall amount of crime that is being committed. They have found ways ever since to commit crimes even before Bitcoin existed. How would you even go about it? If you change the codebase for Bitcoin, another crypto will pop up. Think about Monero. Whenever there is demand for something, someone will build it.

In essence you are intending to turn Bitcoin into something that people don't want. Imagine how many technologies can be used for evil and we still use them.

[serjent05]

There are a couple of things that you seem to be confusing hereof not fully understand why Bitcoin is valuable. Any technology that reduces friction will be used by criminals and there is nothing you can do against it. Whenever something is useful for people, it will also be useful for those with bad intentions.

The good thing about Bitcoin is that the authority has an advantage on tracing these criminals.  Due to the blockchain transaction being transparent, authority can use enhanced tool in tracking illegal activities.  Just as the earlier reply stated, there is more chance of tracking illegal activities in Bitcoin than the traditional fiat.

I also doubt that it would have any influence on the overall amount of crime that is being committed. They have found ways ever since to commit crimes even before Bitcoin existed. How would you even go about it? If you change the codebase for Bitcoin, another crypto will pop up. Think about Monero. Whenever there is demand for something, someone will build it.

In essence you are intending to turn Bitcoin into something that people don't want. Imagine how many technologies can be used for evil and we still use them.

As far as I understand, Bitcoin had its own anti-fraud system, it is also one of the reason why blockchain transactions is available to the public.  If only authority can take advantage of this opportunity and learn how to use it in tracing illegal activities, Bitcoin natural feature will greatly reduce AML and other illegal activities that appears in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

[lalabotax]

No one can guarantee that Bitcoin will not be sued for crimes. because there are various people in the world.
Even though it is just fiat, it is also used.
But for Bitcoin, probably certain crimes happen because of the easy use of Bitcoin for global transactions, more secret transactions, and other easiness.
But actually, this is part of the negative side of the usage, not Bitcoin. This will always depend on people who are using it for, what's for. Moreover, we cannot control what people using Bitcoin. I know that certain media or parties will always use this case of crimes to highlight the negative issues of bitcoin as always, but aside from that actually, Bitcoin has more advantages to do and to have, more than negative sides. So, why should we be worried about this?

[_BlackStar]

No one can guarantee that Bitcoin will not be sued for crimes. because there are various people in the world.
Even though it is just fiat, it is also used.

When you admit bitcoin is money, that's when you have to admit that money can always be misused. Then show me which currency hasn't been abused so far, I don't think you can proof it.

All currency is misused, it's not the fault of the money but the fault of who uses it. So no one will sue bitcoin for being misused by someone, whereas users who misuse bitcoin will receive legal consequences.

[deathcode]

Hello crypto bros.
Today I want to discuss a pretty big problem that bitcoin adoption is facing.
Bitcoin is great in means of anonymous transactions and getting away from the banks and government control, but the problem is, it's the exact problem why criminals are using it. And it's a pretty big one. I'm not saying that criminals use bitcoin more than fiat, but we all can see that illegal services are widely accepting bitcoin.

The problem here is that the system should have some way to fight these criminals because we don't want bitcoin to be associated with drugs and sex trafficking,  but the problem is, by solving these problems we should get rid of anonymity which is a pillar for the bitcoin technology, so it can't be done. And this problem might be a big obstacle in mass bitcoin adoption and regulations that are coming.

So I want to hear your opinion: how to make bitcoin technology "safer" so we could fight a crime committed with crypto and help with bitcoin adoption without taking away the main features of bitcoin like decentralization and anonymity?

In my opinion, this is indeed a deficiency that will appear or exist in every thing that has value. Anything that has definite value will still have the drawbacks of being misused. We all know that not only Bitcoin but also fiat and gold cannot be separated from misuse for illegal activities, right?.
We cannot do anything about misusing Bitcoin for illegal activities. Even removing anonymity or using KYC will not be able to prevent it. Everyone who has bad intentions will always find loopholes to take advantage of them.
This is not a major issue with Bitcoin adoption as fiat and gold both have the potential to be abused. There is something positive behind this actually that Bitcoin can prove that Bitcoin is real and has a high value so that many "criminals" take advantage of it.
For this adoption it will only be a matter of time before everyone starts to know, accept and use Bitcoin.

[romero121]

Once Bitcoin was criminals money. From that point things have slowly changed and the need changed from an source used for the criminal activity to a potential investment. Even now the beginning days usage is discussed by some users and stay away using cryptocurrency. If we go through the statistics it is clear to see the difference in usage of cryptocurrencies in the beginning days to the present days. Quite often we'll be able to see news on cyber attack and the same too have decreased much in recent years.

[arwin100]

No one can guarantee that Bitcoin will not be sued for crimes. because there are various people in the world.
Even though it is just fiat, it is also used.

When you admit bitcoin is money, that's when you have to admit that money can always be misused. Then show me which currency hasn't been abused so far, I don't think you can proof it.

All currency is misused, it's not the fault of the money but the fault of who uses it. So no one will sue bitcoin for being misused by someone, whereas users who misuse bitcoin will receive legal consequences.

Bitcoin just give advantage to those criminals to make their transaction easy but the same with other currency they are all use for any crimes. Its just we are following bitcoin and crypto that's why we always see a new regarding about bitcoin has been used on illegal activities. On regulation side maybe government need to take action with this so that they can easily combat frauds and can establish the real legitimate usage of bitcoin.

[milewilda]

Once Bitcoin was criminals money. From that point things have slowly changed and the need changed from an source used for the criminal activity to a potential investment. Even now the beginning days usage is discussed by some users and stay away using cryptocurrency. If we go through the statistics it is clear to see the difference in usage of cryptocurrencies in the beginning days to the present days. Quite often we'll be able to see news on cyber attack and the same too have decreased much in recent years.

Its wasnt criminals money since its users or holders are the ones who do choses on what things they would really be making use of it.It is really just that this kind of impression where Bitcoin do able to get
which it isnt really that shocking nor surprising. Government do make use this as a bad publicity towards Bitcoin or in overall crypto which i couldnt blame on because without any doubt it could really be
used more on illegal activities considering that transactions could really be done anonymously or cant be traced. Its not new and this is the main reason on why government cant really be able to decide
on accepting it or adopting because of this one common characteristic.

[Captain Corporate]

These type of talks only benefit the people who dislike bitcoin and doesn't help us at all. Sure it might have been used in crime activity before, and maybe it will be again in the future as well. But that doesn't change the fact that fiat is used for it as well and has been used for it for a long time as well. Which is why I believe that we shouldn't really be considering that as a negative for crypto and move on. Try not to look at the negative of crypto that is not negative for you, like this one is not a negative to you, so ignore it, because its still by far better than fiat and that is why it is better to have than any other currency.

[South Park]

So I want to hear your opinion: how to make bitcoin technology "safer" so we could fight a crime committed with crypto and help with bitcoin adoption without taking away the main features of bitcoin like decentralization and anonymity?

This is not the way things work, every technology has its upsides and downsides, lets look at cars, since their invention cars have changed the world and we could say that cities are built with cars on mind and not people, and yet the technology has huge downsides like producing high levels of contamination, reckless drivers and even the use of cars as weapons, and yet we keep using them, why? Because the benefits they bring are greater than their costs, bitcoin is not perfect but the benefits it brings are great and the whole system will not be changed just to reduce the number of bad actors which use it.

[n0ne]

These type of talks only benefit the people who dislike bitcoin and doesn't help us at all. Sure it might have been used in crime activity before, and maybe it will be again in the future as well. But that doesn't change the fact that fiat is used for it as well and has been used for it for a long time as well. Which is why I believe that we shouldn't really be considering that as a negative for crypto and move on. Try not to look at the negative of crypto that is not negative for you, like this one is not a negative to you, so ignore it, because its still by far better than fiat and that is why it is better to have than any other currency.

Fiat is the most used source on criminal activities, but the information won't be talked much. Whenever a person takes a stand against cryptocurrency, he says bitcoin is for criminal activity. We can't deny bitcoin being used for criminal activity for which we shouldn't take it completely on the negative note. People needs to understand the positive side of bitcoin.

According to me, bitcoin had its circulation happening on criminal activities and gambling in the beginning days. Maybe if it hadn't got used, the usage of bitcoin now could've never reached this state. In my understanding the usage on criminal activities too contributed to the growth.

[CryptSafe]

These type of talks only benefit the people who dislike bitcoin and doesn't help us at all. Sure it might have been used in crime activity before, and maybe it will be again in the future as well. But that doesn't change the fact that fiat is used for it as well and has been used for it for a long time as well. Which is why I believe that we shouldn't really be considering that as a negative for crypto and move on. Try not to look at the negative of crypto that is not negative for you, like this one is not a negative to you, so ignore it, because its still by far better than fiat and that is why it is better to have than any other currency.

Fiat is the most used source on criminal activities, but the information won't be talked much. Whenever a person takes a stand against cryptocurrency, he says bitcoin is for criminal activity. We can't deny bitcoin being used for criminal activity for which we shouldn't take it completely on the negative note. People needs to understand the positive side of bitcoin.

According to me, bitcoin had its circulation happening on criminal activities and gambling in the beginning days. Maybe if it hadn't got used, the usage of bitcoin now could've never reached this state. In my understanding the usage on criminal activities too contributed to the growth.

I really do not think it so. You see criminals always want a situation where by they would  commit a crime and go Scott free without any trace which was why the increase in digital or cyber crime became something else since bitcoin supports anonymous transaction. Now casinos back then wanted a way where by people could patronize them without any trace of their identity hence their resolve to accepting bitcoin which made it popular amongst the gamblers and there was the major breakthrough bitcoin got them and it started to blossom and gradually because the talk of time. See OP, I am meant to understand that there are some scenarios in life that is needed so as to facilitate a process. However, bitcoin was able to passthrough this process so as to get that popular amongst the gamblers and firm there it was well known amongst them.
See OP, I have come to realize that most times, there are some certain things that do not really scale through when things are done the right way or the right process to get things done but when it goes through the iron furnace, the heat of the fire makes that something get the relevant desires. I just assume this that it was that way.

[CarnagexD]

So I want to hear your opinion: how to make bitcoin technology "safer" so we could fight a crime committed with crypto and help with bitcoin adoption without taking away the main features of bitcoin like decentralization and anonymity?

This is not the way things work, every technology has its upsides and downsides, lets look at cars, since their invention cars have changed the world and we could say that cities are built with cars on mind and not people, and yet the technology has huge downsides like producing high levels of contamination, reckless drivers and even the use of cars as weapons, and yet we keep using them, why? Because the benefits they bring are greater than their costs, bitcoin is not perfect but the benefits it brings are great and the whole system will not be changed just to reduce the number of bad actors which use it.

The best start to fight cryptocurrencies crime is not to make one. We can't deny that we've been curious how those crimes happened but we don't have to do it ourselves, and that is a big prevention, I believe. It's true that criminal activities are inevitable but that doesn't mean that we have to ignore it. We can raise awareness and improving the security protocols of Bitcoin network.

These type of talks only benefit the people who dislike bitcoin and doesn't help us at all. Sure it might have been used in crime activity before, and maybe it will be again in the future as well. But that doesn't change the fact that fiat is used for it as well and has been used for it for a long time as well. Which is why I believe that we shouldn't really be considering that as a negative for crypto and move on. Try not to look at the negative of crypto that is not negative for you, like this one is not a negative to you, so ignore it, because its still by far better than fiat and that is why it is better to have than any other currency.

I doubt it. Those people who believe right away with misconceptions are the ones losing something, not bitcoin. Having talks like these increase awareness on how we can be careful with our asset and how we can build a better bitcoin community. Also, it is the negative feedbacks that made Bitcoin grow up to this date, the users and bitcoin itself were able to prove those misconceptions wrong and improve the network.

[nimogsm]

I think it’s not news for a long time that Bitcoin is used in various dark schemes.But state regulators didn’t waste time either.If you remember 5-6 years ago there were no departments to combat cryptocurrency fraud.And now in many developed countries there are special units that catch criminals engaged in breaking the law and using crypto in their crimes.Progress does not stand still,this is a fact and I would not say that criminals cause great damage to the acceptance of Bitcoin as a payment instrument in ordinary society.

[HedgeFx]

Criminal activities can be carried out with any means, from cash to bank transactions. The idea that bitcoins are a tool to help criminals is a widespread thesis among Italian rulers. To those who think these things I always answer in the same way: a knife can be used to cut bread or to attack a person. It is not the tool that is dangerous but how it is used!

[ethereumhunter]

These type of talks only benefit the people who dislike bitcoin and doesn't help us at all. Sure it might have been used in crime activity before, and maybe it will be again in the future as well. But that doesn't change the fact that fiat is used for it as well and has been used for it for a long time as well. Which is why I believe that we shouldn't really be considering that as a negative for crypto and move on. Try not to look at the negative of crypto that is not negative for you, like this one is not a negative to you, so ignore it, because its still by far better than fiat and that is why it is better to have than any other currency.

I doubt it. Those people who believe right away with misconceptions are the ones losing something, not bitcoin. Having talks like these increase awareness on how we can be careful with our asset and how we can build a better bitcoin community. Also, it is the negative feedbacks that made Bitcoin grow up to this date, the users and bitcoin itself were able to prove those misconceptions wrong and improve the network.

And when the community we have built tries to use bitcoin for good things and never talks about bad things and it has grown out there, maybe people out there won't talk about the bad things people have done. And as long as we can use bitcoin well and only introduce bitcoin for a good cause, that's more than enough to help bitcoin become better known to people. And we also always have to remind people to take good care of their bitcoins so that no one wants to steal them.

[Baoo]

Well, even criminals are using FIAT but unfortunately the media always targeting only Bitcoin in a negative way, that’s the difference. In fact, it is always safer to use Bitcoin or in general cryptocurrencies than FIAT . However, there is a minority who using them in criminal or illegal activities like, drugs and arms trade… etc
That’s the negative aspect of Bitcoin due to it is untraceable, They can know only your address but not your personal information and location.

In addition to that, the governments been looking for way to track Bitcoin since 2009 but they never achieved it.  Otherwise, we cannot end the criminal activities in the world but we can reduce the rate if we find a way to track criminals and improve the security . In fact, it not only related to Bitcoin but FIAT.