According to the data of the past few years, every cryptocurrency has grown significantly and rapidly. Regarding the prices, cryptocurrency is the best investment option available nowadays. Moreover, it has become trendy due to its mainstream adoption by many multinational institutions. If we look at cryptocurrencies from a positive aspect, it benefits a lot of industries all over the world. Also, it provides many services to the people, making it very easy for them to get benefits from the Bitcoin Era Review. Still, many wrong activities are being carried on with the cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and they need to be stopped immediately.
The history of cryptocurrencies has never been free of illicit and illegal activities. The market capitalisation of bitcoin alone in January 2018 exceeded $250 billion. It is a very significant amount of money, and it is expected to be even higher than $400 billion in the coming years. So, there is such rapid growth in the cryptocurrency ecosystem; therefore, the nature of the cryptocurrencies is even becoming strict. You will see that the cryptocurrency market is entirely anonymous, and no one can get information from it. Even if a criminal makes transactions using bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, he cannot be adequately traced. These are the things leading the cryptocurrencies to be used in illicit activities, which need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Facts and figures on cryptocurrency crimes
Today, cryptocurrencies are willing to provide a safe and secure environment for everyone to make a transaction. To do so, they are making transactions even more anonymous and independent. As a result, it is straightforward for illegal activities to be carried on with the cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. You might have seen that it is tough to trace the source or origin of illegal activities carried on with the bitcoins. The government and law enforcement agencies found it difficult to stop cyber criminals from using crypto coins.
Peer-to-peer platforms are making things even worse. You might have seen that many platforms use the fake names of cryptocurrencies and, therefore, end up stealing money from users. The one reason behind these activities is the lack of awareness among the people. In Europe, the money laundering activities related to cryptocurrencies will have exceeded $5.2 billion in 2020. It was the data reported by the cyber crime branch of the United States of America as well as Europe. Moreover, more than 44% of the cryptocurrencies are available in the market or, nowadays, stolen from others. Also, more than bitcoins worth $8 billion has been stolen and used for money laundering and other illegal activities.
How to stop it
These illegal and illicit activities need to be stopped as soon as possible. There is a requirement for government action because, without the government’s intervention, there will be no scenario where these illegal activities can be stopped. The most important thing that the government can do is to use the Blockchain as a private and permission network. As long as the Blockchain is a public network, there will be a breach of data and stealing of information from this network.
The government must initiate and regulate the legitimate use of cryptocurrencies for the right things. You might have seen that almost every nation’s government is not entirely intervening in government use. They allow people to use it freely; therefore, people carry on illegal activities using digital tokens. If the government decides to stop the activities, it has to be done with the help of providing awareness among people. They must impose strict rules and regulations on cryptocurrency usage for defined activities only.
Apart from all this, there is a requirement for developing an ecosystem where all the cryptocurrency transactions can be traced back from their origin. Even though there has to be some anonymity, the anonymity must not exceed to such an extent that it can be used for illegal activities. Therefore, they need to be a record-keeping authority where every cryptocurrency transaction can be recorded and used to trace the origin whenever required. In case of illegal activities, strict actions must be taken by the government authorities to curb any further spread of the misleading use of crypto coins.
The above information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by London Loves Business and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any investment decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. London Loves Business bears no responsibility for any gains or losses.
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