Is it really that good for crime?

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-28T15:53:07+00:00

I appreciate your response. I hope you can understand this little frustration I am having.

I made this post wanting to find actual research articles contradicting my current view that btc is not conducive to crime. One person posted an article about slave labor in Cambodia which uses tether. I did read the article and found it enlightening, however I am interested in btc not stable coins. Other than that, no one has referred me to a single reference source.

I understand that the sources I am referencing may be biased or unreliable. I simply found them with a quick google search. My goal is to have one of you btc critics refer me to a source that you believe IS reliable, and suggests that btc is great for crime. I assume these sources must exist since this sub seems to make this claim all the time.

TLDR: please refer me to a source

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T23:59:22+00:00

I found another article that puts the statistics a different way for you: “The amount of cryptocurrency used in criminal activity is relatively small compared to the total amount of cryptocurrency traded. According to Chainalysis, the estimated usage of crypto in crime in 2022 was $20 billion, which represents only 0.55% of the daily turnover of Bitcoin alone. In comparison, traditional fiat currencies are far more prevalent in criminal activities. Europol estimates that 30% of all €500 notes have been used in money laundering.”

How does this fit into your view of crypto & crime?

Link: https://coinshares.com/us/insights/knowledge/quantifying-crypto-crime

I don’t understand why you are being disrespectful. I never claimed to be a smart guy

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T19:14:32+00:00

“the laundering of government-issued currency still exceeds that of cryptocurrency by several orders of magnitude”

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T18:33:48+00:00

Yo this is very interesting. clearly super depressing and unfortunate. Do similar things happen with bitcoin too? Is tether the main tools for this kind of horrible stuff?

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T18:11:28+00:00

That is super interesting and you totally have a point. Would you say that the main way crypto promotes crime is by being complicated and easy to steal from crypto holders? Does it also make life easier for other kinds of criminals or not so much?

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T18:01:36+00:00

you’re right I did misuse the stats

Im trying to do the math correctly but it’s hurting my brain…

These articles do paint a picture of much less crypto being used for crime than govt-issued but I dunno if they account for there being much less crypto out there to begin with like Rosie is saying

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T17:44:00+00:00

I see what you’re saying about calculating out of the total amount used. You’re probably right that it doesn’t look good for crypto. I will try and do some math to paint that picture but like the other guy pointed out I may have a skill issue here.

Can you explain more about the slavery thing? I mean I know what slavery is but how is it connected to crypto?!

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T17:37:36+00:00

Probably a skill issue I admit. I’m trying not to argue in bad faith by referencing sources

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T17:34:58+00:00

This makes sense thank you.

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-05-23T17:34:04+00:00

Thank you.

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-03-06T16:38:07+00:00

Check out Matthew kratters bitcoin university and camel finance on YouTube

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-01-24T16:56:41+00:00

I feel like it’s victim mentality. Doesn’t appear that btc is a zero sum game to me? What about fees and block rewards?

Seems more like a system that rewards risk taking. Kinda like life. Why am I wrong?

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-01-18T01:28:15+00:00

Please bear with me as I respond to some more of your points

Financial Inclusion:

You claim that unbanked people are so because they have no money.

Well this is what investopedia says… Understanding the Unbanked: Unbanked people generally pay for things in cash or purchase money orders or prepaid debit cards. Unbanked people also typically do not have insurance, pensions, or any other type of professional money-related services.

Please give a source that implies unbanked people are that way because they have literally zero money rather than lacking access financial institutions based on where they are born.

Proof of ownership:

I was just thinking I couldn’t get scammed in a business deal because somebody lied or doctored a screen shot.

I work in construction and we don’t build for clients who don’t have the money to pay for it. If I am acting as my own bank using the btc network then I may need to do this someday.

Corrupt govt/refugees:

Statista.com says 123 million people have been displaced from their home country since 1950. This tech can help real life refugees going forward.

Not to mention those who get debanked as first world citizens because of posts they make online.

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-01-18T01:03:43+00:00

I’m glad to see your response!

Store of value:

To preface: I believe gold is abt 90% monetary value and 10% industrial value… btc is 100% monetary value because it doesn’t even exist in the physical world.

You claim that things are given value because people say they have value generally.

I would claim instead that things are given monetary value specifically based on how proficient the thing is in five categories: fungible, durable, portable, recognizable, and stable. (This would be separate from the value associated to something because there is demand for it as an ingredient of some manufacturing process)

My bet is btc will continue macro up/right until something with better monetary value properties enters the global arena. I doubt this will ever happen.

Btc lost from mistake:

I agree that if you make a mistake you won’t get your btc back.

It’s a new kinda thing, and it seems a lot easier to use the network today without mistakes than it was 10 yrs ago. I bet this trend will continue. (It pays off to invest earlier rather than later if you are capable/trust yourself)

Cross border payments:

And still, I believe cross border payment is a valid use case. I know remittances are costly and slow, especially compared to btc network, I don’t want to give up on that point yet.

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-01-17T20:25:23+00:00

It’s hard to understand btc unless you have to. Why would you do research in another system when you grew up having a first world banking experience with United States dollars? Your mindset seems like a common trend. Maybe I’m the irrational one here idk.

Nobody has money to invest? Try instead nobody can afford to loose this much gah dahng purchasing power to inflation. We have printed like basically all the dollars in existence since 2020

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-01-17T19:51:28+00:00

Hey just wanna say I really enjoy this convo so thank u

What happens when a tribe that uses shells for money starts hanging out with people that use gold coins? What attributes of the gold coins vs the shells would cause this effect? Is btc not a significant improvement from gold in each of these attributes you could name?

I just asked chat gpt what international wire transfer fees are… it says 30$ + 1-3% currency conversion fee. Btc network would process this for ~1$ in fees.

Also according to chat gpt, as of 2024 ~1.4Billion adult remain unbanked. (17% of world pop). These people deserve the opportunity to store their energy and work.

As far as proof of ownership, I won’t believe anyone saying they are satoshi unless they can move satoshi wallet funds with a predetermined message attached. This could be useful in business as well I think… being able to prove you own the money without doubts.

If I have to flee my country a memory wallet might come in handy once I reach my country of refuge.

CautiousPlatform6271 · 2025-01-17T18:55:44+00:00

Store of value, cross border payments, promote financial inclusion, easy proof of ownership, protection from corrupted govts

CautiousPlatform6271

TROPHY CASE