Abstract
Cryptocurrencies are among the largest unregulated markets in the world. We find that approximately one-quarter of bitcoin users are involved in illegal activity. We estimate that around $76 billion of illegal activity per year involves bitcoin (46% of bitcoin transactions), which is close to the scale of the US and European markets for illegal drugs. The illegal share of bitcoin activity declines with mainstream interest in bitcoin and with the emergence of more opaque cryptocurrencies. The techniques developed in this paper have applications in cryptocurrency surveillance. Our findings suggest that cryptocurrencies are transforming the black markets by enabling “black e-commerce.” [Reply]
I bought into the hype and determined it was the next big dot.com. I figured it would come back down but the speed in which it went up and down can be attributed to the internet and 24x7 trading.
I waited until this time to get out. The thing that got me was the transactions are so damn expensive. I bought Litecoin for this reason - much cheaper to use.
But in the end, I got out and came close to breaking even. Gonna take my winnings and buy some Gold now. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi:
I guess I’m not sure what your point is. You’re okay with people buying illegal drugs, unless it’s done online using Bitcoin, then it’s bad?
It's an example where people in the trade do not want a paper trail and these buttcoins make it rather easy to avoid having one.
There aren't really any practical legal use for these things because people generally aren't okay with accepting a currency that may or may not lose a quarter of it's volume each time a drug dealer cashes out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MahiMike:
I bought into the hype and determined it was the next big dot.com. I figured it would come back down but the speed in which it went up and down can be attributed to the internet and 24x7 trading.
I waited until this time to get out. The thing that got me was the transactions are so damn expensive. I bought Litecoin for this reason - much cheaper to use.
But in the end, I got out and came close to breaking even. Gonna take my winnings and buy some Gold now.
Up until recently, I was paying about .20 cents to send upwards of 3 thousand dollars. Bitcoin fees did spike up quit a bit towards the end of this bull run, but not egregious. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BryanBusby:
It's an example where people in the trade do not want a paper trail and these buttcoins make it rather easy to avoid having one.
There aren't really any practical legal use for these things because people generally aren't okay with accepting a currency that may or may not lose a quarter of it's volume each time a drug dealer cashes out.
Bitcoin is 100% transparent. Anyone can look at the ledger and see where any coin has been at any time. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi:
Bitcoin is 100% transparent. Anyone can look at the ledger and see where any coin has been at any time.
Transactions don't say XxdrugdealerxX just sold 500 buttcoins. Would of been better off investing in actual companies in the same time frame with the benefit of receiving something of actual value when you invest your actual money. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BryanBusby:
Transactions don't say XxdrugdealerxX just sold 500 buttcoins. Would of been better off investing in actual companies in the same time frame with the benefit of receiving something of actual value when you invest your actual money.
I absolutely would not have been better off with anything in the stock market from when I started investing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi:
I absolutely would not have been better off with anything in the stock market from when I started investing.
I mean, I’m sure you could cherry pick a few stocks that are up >500% in the last two years, but I feel that I have done very well so far on my initial investment. [Reply]
To anyone who still believes in the profound impact of blockchain and its ability to alter the status quo look into Chainlink. Decentralized oracle platform which is poised to dominate and facilitate the explosion of smart contacts in the coming years. Was hanging around .40 a few weeks ago and has exploded to 1.20 since then. Mainnet launch is May 31and theres a lot of belief the price will surge and never look back. Please buy and hold until 2020/2021! [Reply]