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Why Bitcoin is overrated for terrorist finance

Featured image courtesy of the Associated Press.

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For this article, cryptocurrencies will generally be referred to as Bitcoin to avoid confusion.

Introduction

Bitcoin was supposed to change the world of finance. Created by the reclusive and possibly imaginary Satoshi Nakamoto, it offered a purely digital currency that all of the people loved. Libertarians championed its unregulated free market aspect. Anarchists liked that it undercut the multinational corporate banks. Hipsters, of course, go to brag about being on the cutting edge of a new trend. Unfortunately, criminals quickly latched on to Bitcoin as well.

Touted for its anonymity, Bitcoin became the chief currency of online criminals and hackers. Wikileaks started accepting it in 2010 after PayPal and credit card companies stopped processing payments for the website. The “dark web” criminal bazaars like the Silk Road and its successors took payment exclusively in Cryptocurrency. When launching malware to hold a company ransom, hackers naturally demanded payment in Bitcoin.

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Comments

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  • Avatar
    RB

    Good effort.

  • Avatar
    James Walper

    I also wanted to add, companies like Adafruit, that sells electronics like GPS systems, drone parts, etc. They accept bitcoin. How about you just pay attention to who they ship to, or ask them not to ship to certain areas? Just a thought. Companies have the right to refuse service to anyone.

  • Avatar
    James Walper

    Your nation is 20 Trillion dollars in debt and is borrowing money to pay itself off. Fix that, and maybe I’ll drop the ETH, BTC for USD. If you are looking to fight terrorism, what you need to do is go in the middle of the night and murder them. Not lay foundation for something corrupt (like your federal reserve) to create a culture of debt over the entire western civilization. To be honest, the only thing really keeping the value of the USD up right now is your military reach. You guys don’t produce and export like you used to. China is doing a better job at Capitalism than half your states. De-regulate, lower taxes, and let your population compete, you’ll see people drop cryptocurrency and get back into wealth again.