How Bitcoin paves way for ‘new world’ that economically disincentivizes crime

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The assertion that Bitcoin was designed to circumvent government regulations and act outside the scope of law is fallacious. Cryptocurrency was never meant to bypass controls nor to be used as an underground currency. On the contrary, it has already been proven that not only is crypto not anonymous, it is very possible to determine the origin of transactions, as evidenced by the massive roundup of individuals involved in a child porn and exploitation ring. That action proved what Dr. Craig Wright has been stating all along and shows exactly how easy it is to trace Bitcoin activity. In a new blog post, Wright takes a closer look at tracing digital currency movements and how Bitcoin can actually help to reduce crime.

“If Gold Turned to Lead” explains how Bitcoin was meant to provide an immutable trail of financial transactions, something that has never been seen in any financial system. Wright asserts, “Bitcoin is the first peer-to-peer cash system that introduced a key aspect of money that everyone else ignored: tracing. There was never any goal to create a decentralised cryptocurrency that is outside the reach of governments. The entire anarchist catchcry is inimical to the purpose of honest money.”

It has already been shown that crypto ledger entries are admissible as evidence in court. Given that every transaction ever made is permanently registered and can never be deleted, the data is available until the end of time. Bitcoin also has another feature that no other financial system can provide—the alert key.

Says Wright, “The idea of an alert key and others that came about in August 2010 followed the introduction of people seeking to make an online heroin store. I envision a world where freezing orders will be simple, where proceeds of crime cases benefit from linking Bitcoin and tokenised assets to criminal activity. The original concept of the alert key in the alert system allowed Bitcoin to have a freezing system. (…) Before a case was finalised, miners, as they are now called, or nodes would be able to act on the receipt of a validly issued judicial order. As such, they could freeze assets globally. Such capability will always remain in Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin can provide a mechanism that is able to virtually stop crime in its tracks. As the world evolves and databases of crypto transactions are built, law enforcement from across the globe will be able to more easily go after hackers, kidnappers, money launderers and more. All Bitcoin transactions have evidence trails and all of these trails can be followed.

The real reason Bitcoin exists may have been warped by some who didn’t understand it well in the beginning. However, the true nature of digital currency is coming out and it is going to prove to be one of the best crime fighters to have ever existed. Wright concludes, “Welcome to the new world that economically disincentivises crime. Welcome to Bitcoin.”