Previous Story
Anonymity Recognized as Serious Problem with Bitcoin
Posted On 23 Nov 2015
Last Thursday, Reuters reported that a draft document it had seen said the European Union was planning a crackdown on digital currencies as well as anonymous payments made online and through prepaid cards. According to the document, reported Reuters, EU interior and justice ministers planned to speak to the European Commission about increasing controls on “non-banking payment methods such as electronic/anonymous payments and virtual currencies and transfers of gold, precious metals, by pre-paid cards.” These measures on non-banking payment methods come after the attacks in Paris on November 13, with the aim to curb terrorist financing. The meeting was set to take place in Brussels on November 20.
While bitcoin has endured volatile price fluctuations and heavy criticism throughout its lifespan, some fear anonymity might be the issue that truly threatens bitcoin’s future. Reuters pointed out that bitcoin is used to move money quickly and anonymously without the need for third party verification. This makes the cryptocurrency a potential tool for terrorist financing.
Other prominent figures in finance and government have expressed similar concerns. Ben Bernanke, former Federal Reserve chairman, told Quartz that among bitcoin’s issues are volatility in value, lack of wide acceptance and anonymity. Regarding anonymity, Bernanke explained it’s a “bug” in that it allows bitcoin to be the vehicle for illicit transactions. He suspects government oversight will be a result of this, and could reduce the appeal of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The threat of terrorist financing going through bitcoin isn’t agreed upon by everyone, however. Leonid Bershidsky argued on Bloomberg View the point that terrorist funding is using cash, not bitcoin. He explained the Islamic State accounts appear to be in U.S. dollars, and that its revenue is coming in “greenbacks” through oil smuggling, taxes on populations or trade in stolen artifacts. If the Islamic State were to move its transactions into bitcoin, Bershidsky says, the cryptocurrency’s price would spike dramatically.
Despite the varied points of view, there’s no denying that anonymity will be a huge hurdle in the quest for wider bitcoin acceptance.
Image credits:
Featured (Homepage) image, bitcoin logo – Sirius
Photo of the flags of EU countries – Image source
![[Guest Post] The True Use Cases for Bitcoin and Its Role in Banking the Unbanked](https://coinreport.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ray-Youssef-Paxful-CEO-400x230.jpg)
It’s OK now there is OKCash to complement that side of Bitcoin check it out at okcash.co
… except that anonymity, and especially “moving money without third party verification” are the only things about Bitcoin that are actually valuable. Without them, you’re just recreating existing payment systems in a less efficient, less scalable way. It’s stupid to sit there and burn cycles hashing if you’re going to reintroduce central control. And decentralization doesn’t work without fungibility, and fungibility doesn’t happen without anonymity.
The problem with anonymity in Bitcoin is that there is not enough of it.
Yeah, I know, a lot of people think Bitcoin’s supply rigidity is a major feature. But those people are wrong.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]