Bitcoin has nothing to do with crime

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Because of bitcoin does not give public details of people who make transaction with it, some people do say it promote crime.

But the transactions were made available for public view had it been they are knowledgeable enough to know this which means nothing is hidden but they cannot be tampered or readjusted, the scope at which some people sees bitcoin is far from the reality of what bitcoin is and what it represents.

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.

That's true, we can have this privacy as we want, but many do not know how to go about this, there are many advantages of not going public of we so wish as well, the best practice is run a bitcoin full node using bitcoincore.

[coolcoinz]

Linking bitcoin to crime is like saying the bullet is responsible for killing someone, or a missile is responsible for war crimes. It's not the coin that scams you and it's not the gun that kills you.
When someone chooses a payment system, it doesn't change anything about the nature of his crime. The crime is for instance paying for murder, not the bitcoin, or cash transaction itself.

Bitcoin isn't even a privacy coin in the first place and most of people who have Bitcoin are linked with centralized exchanges where they know who's the owner of the address.

That's only if their KYC data is correct and the coins don't get mixed. Also, it's actually pretty easy to lose track of the ownership.
When you send bitcoin to someone else, only you know that person's identity... or maybe you don't? Let's say I send you a tip because I like your post. I don't know you, so even if they come knocking because my coin eventually ended up on some dark web site with drugs, all I can say is that I gave the money to someone named Jawhead999, who could be living somewhere in Chechnya, or Afghanistan.

[Zlantann]

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.  For those who think bitcoin encourages crime because of hiding  public data of users don't understand the importance of bitcoin being private.  Before bitcoin  started  existing monetary crime have been existing.  Bitcoin is not a reason for monetary crime,  bitcoin is just for everyone and does not discriminate but accepts everyone.

Most people that think that Bitcoin was created for criminal activities are speaking out of ignorance. They fail to understand that all Bitcoin transactions are recorded on the blockchain and can be traced to different addresses. There has been a high rate of kidnapping in my country and all of the ransome payments are paid through cash. And most of these payments have not been used to track these criminals. There are limited means of tracing cash transactions. Bitcoin was just created for common men to have control of their money so that they can live a private life. I have never been involved in any criminal activities but I don't also want anybody to know how much I am worth and how I run my financial life, this is why my only option is Bitcoin.

[Kelward]

Bitcoin isn't inherently a privacy coin; rather, it stands as a genuinely decentralized cryptocurrency. Your level of privacy is determined by the measures you take to safeguard it, given that Bitcoin transactions are publicly accessible. If I possess your specific Bitcoin address, I can still trace your activities. Bitcoin's objective is to establish a decentralized payment system, eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries.

Not fair that bitcoin is being likened to fraud in any way, it's just like you're likening a pen to a fraudulent check. You said it all, bitcoin stands as a genuine decentralized cryptocurrency, the good and the bad uses it. Whether crypto or fiat, so far as it has to do with monetary matters, you'll always find fraudulent transactions, the same way you'll also find genuine transactions.

I've made enemies in the past, when I used to argue about the genuine of bitcoin. It really saddens me because I don't understand why ignorant people will choose to associate a particular means of payment with fraud and crime.

[Obari]

Bitcoin isn't inherently a privacy coin; rather, it stands as a genuinely decentralized cryptocurrency. Your level of privacy is determined by the measures you take to safeguard it, given that Bitcoin transactions are publicly accessible. If I possess your specific Bitcoin address, I can still trace your activities. Bitcoin's objective is to establish a decentralized payment system, eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries.

I agree with you that the level of privacy depends on how much we safeguard it but thinking we can track the transactions through ID or wallet address isn't totally correct because mixers already covering the gap of tracking transactions through ID's and even without mixers, you can watch a transaction moving from.one where to another without having possibly anything to do about it and I'm saying this from experience  when my brother was defrauded and we kept watching the coin move from one wallet to another and there was nothing we could do but let go.

Secondly, Bitcoin  is associated  with scammers in my country and the moment you mention that you're a holder, you're  Invariably  seen as a scammer and this is a prove that we still have alot of work to do for people to accept bitcoin globally.

[o48o]

Because of bitcoin does not give public details of people who make transaction with it, some people do say it promote crime. People needs to understand one of the features of bitcoin is freedom that anybody can get access to it, it does not discriminate.  The privacy features of bitcoin is very important to humanity,  which I know one of its advantage is for safety by using cryptography that makes all transactions safe and encrypted.

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.  For those who think bitcoin encourages crime because of hiding  public data of users don't understand the importance of bitcoin being private.  Before bitcoin  started  existing monetary crime have been existing.  Bitcoin is not a reason for monetary crime,  bitcoin is just for everyone and does not discriminate but accept everyone.

Pseudonymity is the only privacy bitcoin offers and even that gets removed when we want to cash out. Bitcoin is far from private and very traceable and open. Opposite to paper Cash is the currency of choice for all criminals out there. And money laundering happens with fiat money. People only see bitcoin as criminal money because they are misinformed on how it works. Claiming that it is private, only keeps that disinformation alive.

[someone703]

Bitcoin is a tool, and it cannot commit a crime on its own. Misconduct such as money laundering is often due to the misuse of these tools, not Bitcoin itself.

The original goal of Bitcoin was to create a neutral medium for transactions, unaffected by the interference of financial institutions or governments. When someone uses Bitcoin to commit illegal acts, the responsibility lies with the person doing the act, not with Bitcoin.

In addition, I feel there is a distinction when some people only focus on how Bitcoin can be used to launder money, while traditional currencies have also been abused to perform similar acts.

[lionheart78]

Bitcoin the same as guns and any armaments does not commit crime by itself.

No, not exactly.

I am not saying that Bitcoin is a weapon of destruction but just simply giving a comparison that just like weapons, it needs a person behind to commit a crime.  Since our discussion is about crime, weapons is the most simple example to give.

Bitcoin is not a weapon, like guns and armaments are. It can't kill anyone directly. Bitcoin is just money and it should be treated as such.

It is established that Bitcoin is not a weapon but it has the capability if used to bribe officials and pay people to do dirty works.

Whereas the discussions around gun control center around limiting duns from being owned by violent people, the pushback against BTC is mainly from banks, the people who run those banks, and to a lesser extent, conspiracy theorists.

(Banks really hate BTC, so it makes sense that they spread all kinds of rumors about it. But in the end, they can't win against a trillion-dollar asset - and counting.)

Didn't the idea the same?  Bad people handling Bitcoin for their evil works is the same as bad people using guns to do crimes like murder, homicide, extortion ect...

The point of discussion here as I understand is that it is the human that do crimes not the technology like Bitcoin and tools like guns, and other armament.

I believe we both agree on the same idea but it is you just emphasized that Bitcoin is not an armament which I also agree with.

[Oasisman]

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.  For those who think bitcoin encourages crime because of hiding  public data of users don't understand the importance of bitcoin being private.  Before bitcoin  started  existing monetary crime have been existing.  Bitcoin is not a reason for monetary crime,  bitcoin is just for everyone and does not discriminate but accept everyone.

Pretty much everything can be an accessory for a crime. If that specific thing is an accessory that means it is involved with the crime and that is part of it. But crime in general comes from an evil mind. These people could use everything they want to initiate it. So, these criminals may have found something valuable about bitcoin that they can't do it with fiat. The sad part is, some people have spread a false information as if bitcoin was created for this purpose that's why it promotes anonymity. The saddest part is, people who don't have any idea what bitcoin is believed in this stories.

[Z-tight]

Pseudonymity is the only privacy bitcoin offers and even that gets removed when we want to cash out.

That is not totally true, if you convert your BTC through a centralized exchange, then there is zero privacy for you, but if you use a self custody wallet and exchange BTC for fiat through a decentralized exchange, you keep your privacy.

That's true, we can have this privacy as we want, but many do not know how to go about this, there are many advantages of not going public of we so wish as well, the best practice is run a bitcoin full node using bitcoincore.

Running a full node gives full privacy, but not everyone can run a full node because of what is required, so even if you use an spv wallet like Electrum, and exchange your coins in a decentralized exchange like Bisq, you'll maintain a good level of privacy.

[maydna]

It's not only people who have to understand, but the government also needs to understand because they still say that bitcoin is only for illegal activities. But in reality, the people who use bitcoins have nothing to do with illegal activities because they only want to profit from trading bitcoins or investing in them.

But despite privacy, the government still wants to know who owns bitcoins. And perhaps they're asking people to report their crypto assets and the taxes they paid so that the government can tax them too.

Bitcoin is neutral, like a double-edged sword, and depends on the person using it. And hopefully, more people will use bitcoin for good instead of using bitcoin for illegal activities.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

I reckon with all that OP has said, it is exactly almost the same thing I said in one of my posts some time back, simply because Bitcoin addresses does not have personal details attached to it, some bitcoin haters always attribute bitcoin to being a currency for criminals, stating that criminals carry out their evil activities, carry out transactions in bitcoin to avoid being traced, they make the whole thing look or seem like it was at the emergence of bitcoin that criminals started emerging, it just baffles when when I come across such claimed on the internet, and one question I've never stopped asking is, were there no criminals, kidnappers, drug traffickers, humans/parts traffickers, drug traffickers long before 2009? those who believe that bitcoin is a currency that promotes crime are the biggest fools, I have no respect for such people cus they lack knowledge.

[Ultegra134]

I reckon with all that OP has said, it is exactly almost the same thing I said in one of my posts some time back, simply because Bitcoin addresses does not have personal details attached to it, some bitcoin haters always attribute bitcoin to being a currency for criminals, stating that criminals carry out their evil activities, carry out transactions in bitcoin to avoid being traced, they make the whole thing look or seem like it was at the emergence of bitcoin that criminals started emerging, it just baffles when when I come across such claimed on the internet, and one question I've never stopped asking is, were there no criminals, kidnappers, drug traffickers, humans/parts traffickers, drug traffickers long before 2009? those who believe that bitcoin is a currency that promotes crime are the biggest fools, I have no respect for such people cus they lack knowledge.

It's pretty stupid to claim that Bitcoin is being used to promote criminal activities; fiat was always the number one means of payment for that. This is a common misconception about Bitcoin and generally cryptocurrencies due to the Dark net markets, such as Silk Road, which were notorious for selling illegal substances, counterfeits, and who knows what else. But aren't these illegal goods being sold on a daily basis, basically in a public setting, right on the street, along with illegal, unregistered guns? I'm not saying that Bitcoin is 100% innocent, as these markets use it along with other cryptocurrencies, but their purpose doesn't promote corruption or crime. Fiat has been responsible for that since forever.

[Taskford]

Because of bitcoin does not give public details of people who make transaction with it, some people do say it promote crime. People needs to understand one of the features of bitcoin is freedom that anybody can get access to it, it does not discriminate.  The privacy features of bitcoin is very important to humanity,  which I know one of its advantage is for safety by using cryptography that makes all transactions safe and encrypted.

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.  For those who think bitcoin encourages crime because of hiding  public data of users don't understand the importance of bitcoin being private.  Before bitcoin  started  existing monetary crime have been existing.  Bitcoin is not a reason for monetary crime,  bitcoin is just for everyone and does not discriminate but accept everyone.

They will say that because they only have little information about bitcoin. The only thing they know is criminal use it and they didn't know that its a currency that's why they spill some negativity without verifying its real use case.
But if they could just dig up some information about it just like what we did they can figure out that greed of people lead them to do bad things and its just they see bitcoin as alternative tool for them to make all they think happen. Also bitcoin is gaining fame so for sure there are lots of opportunity for criminals to take advantage with then stole huge money from people.

[AmoreJaz]

I reckon with all that OP has said, it is exactly almost the same thing I said in one of my posts some time back, simply because Bitcoin addresses does not have personal details attached to it, some bitcoin haters always attribute bitcoin to being a currency for criminals, stating that criminals carry out their evil activities, carry out transactions in bitcoin to avoid being traced, they make the whole thing look or seem like it was at the emergence of bitcoin that criminals started emerging, it just baffles when when I come across such claimed on the internet, and one question I've never stopped asking is, were there no criminals, kidnappers, drug traffickers, humans/parts traffickers, drug traffickers long before 2009? those who believe that bitcoin is a currency that promotes crime are the biggest fools, I have no respect for such people cus they lack knowledge.

and media is highlighting the negative side of this market. even before btc was born, all these fraudulent acts have been proliferating already. and now, these fraudsters find another means to deploy their actions. so yeah, with or without btc, crime has been rampant already. the technology itself is ground breaking, however, people are ruining its image because they are using it to screw naive people.

[Mate2237]

Because of bitcoin does not give public details of people who make transaction with it, some people do say it promote crime. People needs to understand one of the features of bitcoin is freedom that anybody can get access to it, it does not discriminate.  The privacy features of bitcoin is very important to humanity,  which I know one of its advantage is for safety by using cryptography that makes all transactions safe and encrypted.

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.  For those who think bitcoin encourages crime because of hiding  public data of users don't understand the importance of bitcoin being private.  Before bitcoin  started  existing monetary crime have been existing.  Bitcoin is not a reason for monetary crime,  bitcoin is just for everyone and does not discriminate but accept everyone.

Exactly what op said is the truth, many people are just saying that criminal are using bitcoin to do their criminal activities but before bitcoin was invented crime was on the peak in internet so how come bitcoin became a promoter of crime? Those people don't even know what they are saying. Some are even saying that criminal are using bitcoin to hide their stolen funds. Even without bitcoin they used to hide their stolen funds in dollar. So bitcoin has nothing to do with criminals but it is meant for genuine and for the betterment of the people in the world. So anyone who is interested to use it, he or she is free to use it for a legal way.

[n0ne]

Only the end users weren't known. If we know a particular bitcoin address belongs to a specific person then we'll be able to see what all the transactions had taken place. The network is transparent in such a way, and the level of anonymity depends based on the user to making use of different services available. When it comes to bitcoin the intermediate is removed, which means the controller of our funds were removed and we've got the freedom to use it whenever required.

Even before the existence of bitcoin there is crime around the world. The number of crimes connected with cryptocurrencies were far less compared to the crimes that had happened with USD and other traditional currencies. Most of the time to make people get into fear the negative part of bitcoin were much projected.

[jeraldskie11]

You and I both agree. Some people simply have negative thoughts about bitcoin. They have a bad impression about bitcoin. We are all aware that criminals can use Bitcoin, but it can also be utilized for our safety so that we can transact millions of dollars without anyone knowing who we are. You are aware that criminals will urge you to do evil things if they know you have a lot of money. We should therefore consider Bitcoin favorably and the advantages it offers us. At all costs, we should have to defend ourselves against criminals by keeping our identities a secret.

[xSkylarx]

I hope other people really understand it because they judge immediately, like if they just heard Bitcoin in news about drugs, that is when they will think that Bitcoin is just a currency for illegal transactions. But yes, this is really the characteristic of a person who is really not open to learning Bitcoin, but for sure later on they will realize the true meaning and importance of Bitcoin.

[Sarah Azhari]

Privacy in transactions of bitcoin is much important,  if their was no privacy it would have cause several criminal attacks.  For those who think bitcoin encourages crime because of hiding  public data of users don't understand the importance of bitcoin being private.  Before bitcoin  started  existing monetary crime have been existing.  Bitcoin is not a reason for monetary crime,  bitcoin is just for everyone and does not discriminate but accept everyone.

Good, it's the great statement I ever heard. In my resident who don't understand Bitcoin always judge that asset as the mother of crime which makes it easy for people to hide their activity. They don't understand if the function of Bitcoin as privacy not as for hiding the criminal like their thinks. Even I explained it too much, they were consider it with what they ever heard. And I think the problem is not on them, but the bad guys who take advantage of it and appear in the news which was heralded by the media.