In the latest episode of “ignorant things people say about Bitcoin,” John Crudele of the New York Post says the top-ranked cryptocurrency “is only useful to people who don’t want to get caught.”
Enough of These Forced and Labored Bitcoin Rhetorics
Every so often, a nocoiner comes forward to espouse something demonstrably and factually inaccurate about Bitcoin. From calling the popular virtual currency a scam to wild and unsubstantiated claims of Bitcoin aiding and abetting criminal activities, these folks would have everyone believe that BTC is the “swindle of the century.”
A lot of these criticisms are hardly ever based on solid facts. Take, for example, Crudele’s piece published on Sunday (September 30th, 2018). In it, he says:
Bitcoin is a confidence game that’s useful only to people who don’t want to get caught doing bad things.
Crudele offers no proof to back up said claims, only a series of incoherent rants that include references to gambling, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
What the Real Experts Say
In August, Lilita Infante, a Special Agent of the U.S. DEA, said BTC’s use in illegal activities has dropped in the last five years. According to Special Agent Infante, the blockchain doesn’t provide enough cover for illicit transactions. Thus, BTC isn’t even all the great for hiding illegal financial transactions.
Some years back, when critics weren’t calling BTC a bubble or a scam, they were saying the cryptocurrency was perfect for terrorist organizations. Well, it turns out that assertion is false. Recently, Yaya Fanusie of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center told the U.S. Congress that cryptocurrency was an inefficient currency for jihadist groups.
So, if money launderers and terrorists don’t get much joy out of cryptocurrencies, then who are these shadowy figures nocoiners like Crudele and company keep referencing?
Fun fact: the Danske bank money laundering scandal showed one single bank location laundering $235 billion. This figure exceeds the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market. Oddly enough, critics like Crudele won’t mention things like this.
Growing Bitcoin Utility
The nascent cryptocurrency industry is still finding its feet in many regards. Like any other emerging technology, there is a learning curve. However, Bitcoin has shown real and provable utility in many places around the world.
When Venezuela’s economy went belly-up, the folks who embraced BTC as a means of subsistence surely weren’t trying to be up to no good. The same can be said for normal people in places like Pakistan and Iran.
In 2017, the World Bank said there were about 2 billion unbanked and underbanked people in the world. For years, remittance companies made huge profits operating in these areas, charging exorbitant fees.
Now, with Bitcoin, people from Africa and Southeast Asia living and working in the Western Hemisphere can send money to their loved ones back home at a fraction of the previous cost, all thanks to Bitcoin remittance companies like BitPesa and Coins.ph. Again, I ask Mr. Crudele, are these the criminals using Bitcoin?
And now for a personal touch, this author hails and lives in Nigeria but works for an international media company, earning a legitimate living via Bitcoin. Without a borderless payment system that doesn’t require government-controlled banks, such a privilege might never have been possible.
In what other ways have people around the world benefited from Bitcoin’s emergence? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
