Bitcoin and criminal activities: The facts

While the narrative that Bitcoin or all cryptocurrencies
are primarily used by organized criminals, money launderers or terrorists has
persisted, there are also growing numbers of non-criminals that now use the
same financial technology for cross border remittances and online purchases.

The apparently coordinated maligning of cryptocurrencies helps to sustain a negative image, one which inevitably slows a mass adoption of the technology.

When fear is overwhelming, rationality takes a back seat and in that moment, people will believe or endorse any plan to eradicate the underlying cause of the fear.

The power of propaganda

To illustrate, in the lead up to the US and UK’s invasion of Iraq, a typically jingoistic mainstream media magnified the threat posed to the West by Iraq leader Saddam Hussein and his (non-existent) stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

About two years earlier, terrorists had struck the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. The United States just had strike back at one of its enemies and Iraq was logical choice.

Anyone who questioned the wisdom of going to war got attacked or harassed. For example, celebrity singers like Madonna and a then popular all female country band, the Dixie Chicks, were severely criticized for speaking out against the war while those endorsing the march to the war like Britney Spears, were cheered.

However, just a few years into the war, it became apparent that the invasion was based on false intelligence while the fighting itself did not go according to plan. Soon the