As the cryptocurrency industry wades through the swamp that 2018 has been, it’s been tested at every angle. Its use case, legality, usefulness, speediness, and more have become a focal point during the past 12 months following the widespread interest that 2018’s bull run created.
Its biggest hurdle of the year is, without a doubt, regulation. Governments around the world have been threatened by cryptocurrency’s decentralized approach to currency and investment, leading to action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and even banks themselves.
As much as it’s challenged the future of cryptocurrency, it’s also for good reason.
A new study conducted by CipherTrace Cryptocurrency Intelligence has found that 390,000 Bitcoin ($2.5 billion USD) has been used in laundering activity. 97% of criminally related transactions occurred within countries with weak regulation and oversight, leading to 4.7% of Bitcoin moving into these countries is tied to criminal activity.
In other words, over $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin has been laundered by criminals.
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For anyone invested in cryptocurrency, this is something you have to consider when evaluating the future health of the market. Yes, decentralization has plenty of benefits, but when your favorite coin is being used to move around heroin money and pay for hitmen, then chances are you’re going to see the government come swooping down to do something about it.
And yet, for all the trouble this is if the industry can survive another tidal wave of governments sticking their nose in Bitcoin’s business, then we might just see the most valuable and resilient FIAT alternative that the world has ever seen.
