If Bitcoin is better, why do criminals use it for money laundering?

[ElvorAI]

The fact that criminals can use something doesn't automatically make that thing bad.

Criminals use cash, banks, phones, cars, and the internet too.

The bigger question is whether the system is transparent and traceable.

Unlike cash, Bitcoin transactions are permanently recorded on a public blockchain. In many cases, that makes tracking illicit activity easier, not harder.

No financial system is immune to abuse. The goal is reducing abuse, not expecting it to disappear completely.

[Franctoshi]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin because I'm newly into it. Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.

Bitcoin is not the only currency that's used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other sorts of illegal activities, Fiat currency is the Chief pioneer and where all these illegal activities has been taking place, So all these stuff has been in existence on before the invention of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency join. However, Criminals will always find a way to disrupt a good system and paint it bad. It's even more easier to trace criminals via Bitcoin than it's to trace someone laundering money using cash.

And that reminds me one event that took place in my area, a fish seller who bought a carton of fish, opened one carton of fish and all she saw was fully packed United States dollars notes inside and she returned it to the police authority, this is to tell you the level of money laundering activities happening through fiat currency.

[KingsDen]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin because I'm newly into it. Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

Before bitcoin, there were drug cartels;
Before bitcoin, there were criminals;
Before bitcoin, there wee money launderers
So, people use bitcoin as much as they use fiat for crime, just that bitcoin is botherless, that is why it's more pronounced.

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.

Bitcoin is not anonymous, but if you are privacy conscious, you can achieve anonymity with bitcoin. Also, remember that bitcoin is not called anti-criminal currency or anti-laundry currency.

[Rockstarguy]

Bitcoin is also money, and people can use it however they want. It is not only Bitcoin that is being used for money laundering and other criminal activities; fiat is also used for money laundering as well. If we were to do the statistics on how Bitcoin and fiat have been used for money laundering, fiat would show a higher frequency.

Don't make it look as if people hide behind Bitcoin to conduct their criminal activities. It is not just Bitcoin; fiat is involved too. Bitcoin is also traceable, just like fiat. You need to understand that money will always be used for money laundering, and the reason why scammers scam people is to obtain money. Bitcoin is money, and people will always come after it.

[Stalker22]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin
~

You want honest answers?  Bitcoin is better money, even for criminals.  I dont think you can have it both ways.  You either opt for a centralized, government-controlled system that decides who is allowed to use it today, or you choose a neutral, open protocol that does not care who you are.

But if you think drug cartels prefer Bitcoin over fiat, you have been misled by sensational headlines. 

[Charles-Tim]

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering?

Why are the government still unable to end money laundering that fiat is part of it? There are many money laundering cases that I read this year that crypto were not involved, although there were few that crypto were involved.

There are cases that criminals were linked to through the bitcoin they stole. Why did you not mention that also.

There are bandits that are collecting just fiat in cash.

[salad daging]

Fiat is still widely used for money laundering by corruptors and other criminals, it's just that the news may be covered up.

Bitcoin is always in a bad corner especially when there is news about money laundering using bitcoin such as hacker actions, terrorism, other criminals, they could just take advantage of this, but honestly at least bitcoin is not that purpose, only for privacy and anonymity but is often misused by a group of irresponsible people, which in the end many people think badly of bitcoin too.

when you already understand about bitcoin, then your perspective will not be like this, and consider bitcoin better than fiat.

[macson]

All these stories are just a way to tarnish Bitcoin's reputation. They can't attack Bitcoin from a technological perspective, so they start attacking it with negative narratives or FUD to influence people's perception that Bitcoin is the best tool for money laundering.

Just so you know, fiat remains the easiest way for criminals to launder money compared to Bitcoin. So anyone who thinks Bitcoin is the right tool for money laundering is dead wrong.

[coinlary]

This doesn't add up are you saying Bitcoin should be rebranded to be centralised so that we can filter out those that are using it for illegal activities  like momey lundering ? The same thing the fiat system couldn’t  prevent 

Bitcoin itself can't  be directly used for money laundering, it’s  transparent so it’s a bad choice for direct laundering unless done trhough other serviceinvolvennt . Apparently, you can keep a money  laundered  from fiat in Bitcoin does that really means Bitcoin was used for laundering it ?  There's  no perfect system talk more of a system that’s free from censorship, it approves anything that comes it way and that’s why it’s superior because it does what exactly it's designed to do .

[Rruchi man]

Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

Bad news always spreads faster than good news. That is why I'm not surprised that the majority of the times that you have heard about Bitcoin, you have heard it in relation to something negative. Yes, there are some individuals who are using Bitcoin for some negative purposes, but it does not eliminate the fact that it was not created for such people or use; they are just taking advantage of it for that purpose. That bad people make use of Bitcoin does not make it bad itself It only further proves that there is an actual benefit that Bitcoin provides that some other people are ignoring.

[Issa56]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin because I'm newly into it. Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

You should know that bitcoin is a currency, it’s suppose to be used for transaction, so you should know that anyone can decide to make use of it to do any transaction which they want either illegal or legal. You should know that every currency can be used for illegal activities.

I don’t know why people are not even talking about fiat currency being used for illegal activities, and people are complaining about bitcoin. We should know that even before bitcoin was created, fiat currency was the currency which was used for illegal activities, and it’s still used for illegal activities even now, but people are just silent about it, and they complaining about bitcoin.

Most people complaining about bitcoin are just Anti bitcoin, since they not benefiting from bitcoin, they want to spoil bitcoin reputation.

[arwin100]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin because I'm newly into it. Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.

Are you sure about that? If you are not one sided you can do a research. Fiat and other forms that holds monetary value are been used for money laundering schemes.

So better don't spread something unfair matters and give impression that Bitcoin is not good because of what you have said here. There's more better use of Bitcoin compare on what you have said, also Bitcoin is not limited only to be used for money laundering. Government also big institution see the value of Bitcoin, that used for criminal things is already done, since Bitcoin already gained positive adoption now.

[Ihedioral]

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.
[/quote]

You could move Bitcoin across the country without a bank; that information was useful for the criminal elements before a regulator caught them up.



Could say Bitcoin is just like that. River water, where you could get the good things of life, the same river that gives life to the fish , cooked, it turns out to be a protein.

All depends on the holder
 

Moreover, BTC addresses do not have names attached to them; perhaps they think it's untraceable to track, but not knowing each transaction is open to the public in the chains forever.

Bitcoin is not for laundering compared to Fiat money,

[Charcol]

You say criminals are using Bitcoin. I want to tell you that criminals use not only Bitcoin but all kinds of valuable things. Have you forgotten that they also use cash, bank accounts, gold, real estate, company structures. If a criminal or bad person uses something, it does not become bad. Again, scammers also use the Internet, so we do not call the Internet bad.

Bitcoin has given you freedom as well as some responsibilities. If you understand the responsibilities well, then no criminal can harm you. Again, even if you do not have Bitcoin, criminals can harm you because of your cash. Bitcoin is not something that will erase the evidence of the crime of criminals. Rather, because of the permanent record of blockchain, it can sometimes be easier to trace the transactions of criminals later.

[jcojci]

All people can use Bitcoin for many purposes including use Bitcoin for money laundering and as long as people know how to use Bitcoin, they can do freely and can be anonymous making finance transaction. While criminals will use many ways to hides their finance transaction from the authority. People who transact with criminals will not ask where is the money come from and will happy if they can get the money. Maybe criminal feels better use Bitcoin to launder and they can stay behind on the transaction and still anonymous.

[Outhue]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin because I'm newly into it. Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.

Why not just ask questions rather than saying what you aren't so sure about? Who told you that Bitcoin is anonymous? With a public Blockchain? People use fiat for crimes and yes Bitcoin is also useable for crime but crimes are of different levels, if its a big crime that is threatening to a country they choose the wrong asset for it, Fiat would have been better.

Even if criminals use Mixers they can still be traced, but the hunt must be a worthy one, if someone scammed you using Bitcoin worth $1000 no one will care, you got scammed and this money isn't big enough for them to start cracking down on every clues they can find, but try to steal Bitcoin from Binance first and let's see, very handful amount though, you aren't getting away I can promise you that.

[MusaPk]

Before bitcoin, there were drug cartels;
Before bitcoin, there were criminals;
Before bitcoin, there wee money launderers
So, people use bitcoin as much as they use fiat for crime, just that bitcoin is botherless, that is why it's more pronounced.

Bitcoin is just 15 years old and all activities you mentioned were happening well before that i.e. through fiat currency. That is because the criminals that were doing money laundering have got full support of banks and law enforcement agencies. Even today majority of crime activities are done by using fiat currency because not all criminals are aware of Bitcoin. Just like fiat has negative uses, we can't say that it must be banned and thats because it has positive uses in our daily life also. Similarly Bitcoins is a financial system which has both positive and negative uses.   

[Positive_mind]

I am not against Bitcoin, i just need honest answers that would convince me more about Bitcoin because I'm newly into it. Some news I've seen about Bitcoin is either scam related, like people getting scammed through it on telegram, drug cartels using it to launder money, and criminals stealing from shop owners who use Bitcoin, if it is that better than fiat, why is it possible for criminals to use it or clean their dirty money with it?

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.

I understand the very angle from which you're coming from or hitting at.
But you should ask, do criminals use fiat currency for criminal activities, the answer is yes!.

Now let's compare the, data shows that about 2.4T+ dollars are laundered via fiat currency yearly globally, if I'm not wrong.
Bitcoin transactions are traceable (Pseudo anonymous) every transaction is registered on the Blockchain for everyone to see no matter how long it is.
They will use a decentralised wallet, yes, but the end point of that transaction is where? Centralised exchange of course. “KYCed” Right? This is where patterns connect the dots when you try to pull those funds into your bank account.

Generally, Bitcoin is not perfect for criminal activities because it can be traced back to you. It's like a glass bank account that has no identity, But whatever moves you try to make, it's seen without a microscope.

[PX-Z]

Money saved in the bank can be traceable but Bitcoin is anonymous if stored in wallets that doesn't require KYC, isn't that a perfect means of money laundering? Cause it sounds like one to me, so i need explanations why i shouldn't feel it's a perfect means of laundering money for criminals.

You don't know how criminals uses bank to launder money? There are several ways to do that, you only need to be friend with the bank manager, send smaller amount below AMLC declared amount for suspicious transaction and open it using different names, once it become case it's untraceable.

Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous, instead you can easily be traced due to chain analysis.

[dzungmobile]

You don't know how criminals uses bank to launder money? There are several ways to do that, you only need to be friend with the bank manager, send smaller amount below AMLC declared amount for suspicious transaction and open it using different names, once it become case it's untraceable.

I really don't know that to do money laundering though bank system, being friends with bank managers is a mandate. Criminals will try doing this without support from bank managers and if this happens like you thought, it can be for very severe abuse from criminals.

Like people who laundered money on Binance exchange, are they actually friends of CZ, I really don't think so.

Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous, instead you can easily be traced due to chain analysis.

Yep. But doing money laundering or just normal Bitcoin users, people can apply some tips for improving privacy.
General guidelines for sending BTC transactions.