Recently, governments worldwide are worrying that criminals may be hijacking the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Consequently, these governments are promulgating regulations to outlaw Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins in their domains. This move makes perfect sense since crypto-related transactions are somewhat synonymous with the dark web. There, people meet for the sales of illegal items on the internet.
Steps are becoming necessary as governments gear toward eliminating illicit activities such as money laundering, terrorism, illegal cross-border transfers, human trafficking, and many crimes using BTC for payments. Though, there’s more to this. A recent report showing the ratio of legal activities to illegal ones using virtual currencies will continue this debate.
About The Report
According to Lilita Infante, a staffer at U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, genuine transactions still dominate the crypto ecosystem. Infante noted that after analyzing the number of cases involving BTC, she compares both types, and in the end establishes that criminal activities are far behind by 90%. She added that illegal activities dropped by 10% as actual speculation dwarfed criminal activities.
Giving More Insight Into Her Findings
Infante disclosed that though the volume of crimes committed around the crypto-sphere is increasing over the years, the environment still contains a bunch of speculators who are mainly bulls hoping to hit it big in crypto-asset trades. She pointed out that while the volume of illegal activities grew with BTC prices over time, there was also a surge in volume of legal activities.
Contradiction
Infante’s findings shatter the narratives often perpetuated by governments in countries that have outlawed cryptocurrencies. In those countries, the governments insist that criminals use the dark web to commit all manner of crimes as security and anonymity of cryptocurrencies wouldn’t allow a third party to intercept such transactions. Indeed, BTC transactions are pseudonymous, so they are not traceable. She nonetheless debunked the popular misconception that the activities of the dark web dominate the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Explaining further, Infante said that money launderers and traffickers often carry out their illegal activities via peer-to-peer exchanges and over-the-counter, though most of these crimes pass through exchanges.
What Do These Findings Mean For The Crypto Ecosystem?
It is a wake-up call to governments that are refusing to key into the innovative technology. They avoid it on the grounds that illegal activities are beyond their control and happening all over the internet. Truly, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are in their early stages. Though, all indications point to the fact that they can take traditional financial services and other sectors to the next frontier. Blockchain technology in particular has huge untapped potential which governments must harness.
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