It’s not about crime, it’s about control.

• Cryptocurrency was invented to remove corruption from the financial services system industry and to return control over money to people, lessening control by institutions.
• Once you understand this idea, it is clear that cryptocurrency threatens the power and control of the two most powerful monopolies in most countries; Banks, which have a monopoly on money, and Governments, which have a monopoly on violence. If you combine these two monopolies you have a powerful force for good or evil.

Cryptocurrency is a poor tool to use for crime.

• While governments have legitimate rights to tax their citizens, and have legitimate concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies for criminal activities.
• However, one of the ironies of cryptocurrency is that the open, transparent and traceable nature of cryptocurrency transactions make them poor vehicles for criminal activities.

Cash is still king for crime.

• And while there are instances of criminal activity using cryptocurrencies, it is the nature of the blockchain which makes it easy for government agents like the police to catch criminals and prove criminal activity or tax avoidance when such crimes are committed using cryptocurrencies.

• This statement is more than just an opinion, as the majority of tax evasion efforts involve cash transactions, and are thus untraceable. Additionally, the majority of other criminal activities like gambling, prostitution and illegal drugs are also cash transactions. These are not my numbers, but the statements from the United States Department of Justice and the numbers from Chain Analysis, the company the government gets its numbers from and whom they use to catch cybercrookse.

• • First the US Department of Justice:

Government Seized $3.6 Billion in Stolen Cryptocurrency Directly Linked to 2016 Hack of Virtual Currency Exchange
View Deputy Attorney General Monaco's Remarks here.
Two individuals were arrested this morning in Manhattan for an alleged conspiracy to launder cryptocurrency that was stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange, presently valued at approximately $4.5 billion. Thus far, law enforcement has seized over $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency linked to that hack.
“Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”
“Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The arrests today show that we will take a firm stand against those who allegedly try to use virtual currencies for criminal purposes.”

USDOJ REFERENCE

-- ChainAnalysis the expert used by police, prosecutors and even US DOJ

Overall, the share of all cryptocurrency activity associated with illicit activity has risen for the first time since 2019, from 0.12% in 2021 to 0.24% in 2022. [2]
reference chain-analysis

Overall, illicit activity in cryptocurrency remains a small share of overall volume at less than 1%. It’s also worth keeping in mind that despite this year’s jump, crime as a share of all crypto activity is still trending downwards.

reference cryptocrime report

-- COMPARE CRYPTOCURRENCY TO CASH

According to the UN, it is estimated that between 2% and 5% of global GDP ($1.6 to $4 trillion) annually is connected with money laundering and illicit activity. This means that criminal activity using cryptocurrency transactions is much smaller than fiat currency and its use is going down year by year.
SOURCE

Conclusion

• So it might be fair to say, that while cryptocurrency is used for criminal activity, its a much smaller percentage of crypto used for crime then dollars. And the amount of the dollar of crypto crime is extremely small compared to cash US Dollar.

Last word; accountability

*My final thought I wish to leave you is that one of the citizens biggest issues with the two biggest monopolies in their life banks and government. And the blockchain fixes this and provides transparency for spending and the governments would be accountable..

Posted Using InLeo Alpha

Posted Using InLeo Alpha