By now you would have heard how one of the main use cases for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is "illegal transactions" such as money laundering, drug trade, financing terrorism and anything else you can think of. Even Bill Gates tried to paint the narrative that Bitcoin was heavily responsible for nefarious activities and directly responsible for drug-related deaths:
"The government's ability to find money laundering and tax evasion and terrorist funding is a good thing, right now, cryptocurrencies are used for buying fentanyl and other drugs, so it is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way."
Thanks Bill, by your logic you are now responsible for all computer-based illegal activities .
It wouldn't be genuine to not acknowledge that The Silk Road played a significant role in the growth of Bitcoin popularity. With that being, I still doubt that amongst major organised crime, terrorists and tax evaders bitcoin is the weapon of choice (excuse the pun) to carry out their activities.
For hundreds of years organised crime has thrived in virtually all societies, this is long before the emergence of Bitcoin. The questions then become; how have criminal organizations been able to finance their operations in the past if Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not present? Why are these organizations so successful in continuing to have sufficient financial resources? Is it possible that traditional financial system has been used by the underworld? Outside of organised crime you also have terrorists and militant groups that are somehow able to purchase expensive military equipment. Do you really think arms dealers are asking for tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for payment?
Let's turn our attention to some of the financial institutions in the oh so trustworthy, regulated and above board financial market:
*Commonwealth bank of Australia failed to notify authories about the actions of a drugs and firearms syndicate, which allegedly laundered $42 million through ATMs
*Credit Suisse pled guilty to helping Americans evade tax
*Deutsche Bank laundered $10 billion of illegal Russian money into the UK financial system
*Deutsche Bank violated sanctions to do business with Iran and Sudan
*BNP Paribis pled guilty to falsifying records and conspiracy while violating sanctions on Cuba, Iran and Sudan
*HSBC laundered mexican cartel drug money into the US financial system
*HSBC provided services to a Saudi Arabian bank that had previously been linked to terrorism financing
*HSBC provided services to organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah
*Standard Chartered laundered $250 billion worth of transactions for Iran while the country was under sanction
*Wachovia (acquired by Wells Fargo) laundered billions of dollars for Mexican cartels
There you have it folks, just a short list (with billions of dollars worth of transactions) of the biggest banking institutions in the world having provided services for terrorism, tax evasion and organized crime but don't let that distract you from the narrative that cryptocurrencies are only used for such activities. The next time someone tries to argue that cryptocurrencies are just used for illegal activities, ask them what has been happening for hundreds of years?