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The headline reads like it's only a cult, which isn't the case. Even the most critical observer must concede that these distributed networks are novel and interesting.
The farther you move from social media, the less cult-like things get. The best discussion remains on listservs, and there is a lot of interesting and substantive discussion occurring.
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I'm not commenting on the use of Bitcoin for Russian/Saudi interests, simply some information on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. Money Laundering tends to be smallish sums deposited over time, resulting in large amounts. You can't wash 100MM in one go. Terrosist Financing tends to be a very large number of small transactions from multiple global sources in a very short space of time into one account/wallet/…
I have zero interest in Bitcoin, but the idea that terrorists finance happens through cryptocurrency is very naive. Terrorism is sponsored on the ground, with goods, not money that you have to convert to some other money first, and then buy things you need.
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I think crypto is different in the way it actually doesn’t do anything. Bitcoin has been around for 9 years and you have never been able to use bitcoin as a currency fewer places than you can now.
Government bonds have been around for hundreds of years but I can't buy coffee with them. Thus they don't do anything.
They have expanded a lot since last year. Can they keep this up? How much Tether can they print?
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> Have you ever actually laundered dirty money? No. My knowledge comes from anti-money laundering training. Depending on how fast one needs to move, money laundering fees go from 5% to 30%. Bitcoin is cheaper than that per se . But include the costs of anonymising and cleanly cash out, and you're just adding cost and risk over a wire transfer between fronts.
No man, there's so much more exposure that way. And remember, this is a criminal enterprise. Those people who run your fronts could just as easily rob/kill you and take it for themselves, and given the chance they will . With bitcoins you can 1) do it yourself, no middlemen other than the bitcoin processor who doesn't give a flying right-hand fuck where the money comes from, and 2) do it far, far, far quicker than tr…
How do you propose cashing out? Your cronies aren’t going to want their wages in Bitcoin.
> I'm not spending MY 30k, I'm spending YOUR 30k
Practically speaking, if you steal my money it’s now your money. More money is better than less money. In any enterprise, criminal or legitimate, there are systemic incentives for maximising pay-out.
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I think crypto is different in the way it actually doesn’t do anything. Bitcoin has been around for 9 years and you have never been able to use bitcoin as a currency fewer places than you can now.
Government bonds have been around for hundreds of years but I can't buy coffee with them. Thus they don't do anything.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s media sensationalism. BTC is not remotely anonymous and is useless as a tax evasion mechanism. Your money still has to go through someone to turn into BTC, and that’s the same as any other money laundering operation. Once their books are audited, your “safe haven” is worth nothing.
Vice has a good video on drug dealers lining up to use a Bitcoin ATM every day somewhere in an American ghetto. Bitcoin is 100% about drug dealing, gambling, and tax avoidance. You would have to be a total moron to go through all the hoops to use it otherwise. Its kinda like running desktop linux in that way.
For the same reasons it sucks for individuals (volatile, slow, expensive, publicly recorded, difficult to spend and difficult to convert), it sucks for criminals.
I don't disagree but isn't this true for the popularization of any technology. First it's just the nerds then come the less informed masses who don't fully understand the details along with the people trying to make money out of that fact.
There is, without a doubt, a Bitcoin cult. Or more generally, crypto-currency cults. The headline reads like it's only a cult, which isn't the case. Even the most critical observer must concede that these distributed networks are novel and interesting. The farther you move from social media, the less cult-like things get. The best discussion remains on listservs, and there is a lot of interesting and substantive disc…