Crypto is mainly used by criminals

Crypto is mainly used by criminals

The fact is that since the existence of crypto there has been a lot of myths that cover up the room. The truth is that many of them could no longer be away from the truth, and it is important to bring some clarity into the matter, especially now that global supervisory authorities are targeting the industry.

The most important findings from this article are:

• The concept that crypto is used by criminals can be attributed to early media reporting. More precisely, it is about the notorious marketplace of the Silk Road.
• Information from the independent company Chainalysis, which provides blockchain data and analyzes, show that illegal activities made up about 0.15 % of all crypto transactions in 2021.
• Data from the UN, on the other hand, show that between $ 800 billion and $ 2 trillion every year. Krypto only makes up about 0.03 %.

It goes without saying that blockchain technology, which is relatively new, is the subject of many misunderstandings, so let's take a look at one of the most common myths and try to see if they are worth.

myth: crypto is only used by criminals

The use of cryptocurrency for illegal activities has been a very highly discussed topic since the beginning of the industry. The public perception of crypto as inherently associated with illegal activities can be traced back to time when the notorious silk road was in full swing.

For those who do not know, Silk Road was an online black market that was operated on the Darknet from 2011 to 2013. He was known to make it possible for people to buy and sell illegal goods. It was involved in drug trafficking and others of this kind, and its connection with crypto contributed to the negative reputation of the industry towards the mainstream media.

In addition, the perceived decentralization and anonymity of cryptocurrencies fueled the fire of concerns that they facilitate criminal activities.

And although it is true that there are criminals who use crypto, the extent is absolutely tiny compared to the entire transaction volume and even more insignificant in comparison, as many criminal fiat prefer.

reality: Data show that the crypto is mainly used by ordinary people

Data from an independent blockchain analysis company called Chainalysis show that crypto is mainly used by normal people and exists as a legitimate tool for a number of everyday transactions.

The leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance alone has more than 120 million registered users. As with every new technology, criminals and bad actors will of course always try to use them for shameful purposes. In 2021, however, illegal activities only made up about 0.15 % of all crypto transactions. Despite the exponential growth of the industry, this number fell over 0.62 % in 2020. 0.05 % of this accounted for money laundering.

we now compare this to the Fiat world. Data provided by the United Nations show that criminals wash between $ 800 billion and $ 2 trillion every year. That is between 2 % and 5 % of the global GDP. Krypto only makes 0.03 % of it.

It is clear that criminals may not crypto because all transactions are recorded publicly and permanently. This facilitates the work of investigators - it helps them to pursue the money trace and easily identify bad actors.

conclusion

The myth that crypto is mainly used by bad actors is very exaggerated. The fact is that the vast majority of transactions and investments are completely legitimate and focus on the real application of technology.

The emergence of blockchain technology has opened new possibilities, and cryptocurrencies are just one of the aspects.

from non -fungible tokens (NFTS) to decentralized finances (Defi) are the potential applications of technology in diverse and numerous.