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Topic: Bitcoin criticizer, 'Black Swan' author, admits BTC isn't useful for 'bad guys' (Read 124 times)

sr. member
Activity: 812
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How is this claim a bad thing? I don't get it, Bitcoin is really useless for criminals because every transactions are traceable, unless they use mixer services and that's why the government doesn't like mixer services.

Are we supposed to feel bad that criminals can't use Bitcoin? I have always believed that Monero is the most fitted one in this angle than Bitcoin, because Bitcoin was never a anonymous digital currency and that's the job of of XMR aka Monero.

The past claims by Bitcoin haters was that Bitcoin is used by criminals for the illegal movement of money, and if what this fella is saying is that Bitcoin is no place for criminals I don't see anything wrong here.
legendary
Activity: 2702
Merit: 4002
Is this supposed to be praise or defamation of bitcoin? An argument that the possibility of tracking it makes it not suitable for money laundering means that the percentage of use in money laundering, drug trafficking and other activities is much lower than banking systems and with the high transparency that you enjoy, all accusations of bitcoin are that it is used for illegal purposes is wrong.

Most of the people opposing the idea of bitcoin come from being colliding with their convictions that they studied and therefore the problem they have not accepting something new without even looking at what this new thing is, it is similar to the rejection of communist ideas because it is its Communists without even analyzing it.
Ucy
sr. member
Activity: 2674
Merit: 403
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In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'


Quote
In a scathing critique of the crypto industry, Nassim Taleb, the renowned author of "Black Swan," launched a blistering attack on Bitcoin (BTC), dismissing it as a useless and dangerous phenomenon, reports Business Insider.
Quote
Speaking at the Bloomberg Invest conference, Taleb denounced Bitcoin, asserting that it offered no haven and failed to serve even the purpose of money launderers.
Quote
He debunked the notion that Bitcoin facilitated money laundergging, arguing that its traceability made it unsuitable for such illicit activities.


Sounds like he is saying "it's useless and dangerous for the bad guys". That probably explains the contradictions in the post.
Thieves and the bad guys would hate it as is useless and dangerous for them. A thief would quickly sell or mix a stolen coin knowing how "dangerous" and transparent the system is for his survival.


Evil is exposed to all in the Transparency of Bitcoin system and hidden to most in the darkness of Fiats'
legendary
Activity: 2576
Merit: 1860
This isn't a breaking argument for Nassim Taleb. This isn't new. This has been repeated over and over again, not by Bitcoin critics but by Bitcoin advocates themselves. So Nassim Taleb is not scoring a point against Bitcoin with this.

As a matter of fact, on the contrary, this is a point for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a technology which offers transparency in the world of finance. The more reason, therefore, that it should be the preferred currency. In the age of severe corruption happening around the world, Bitcoin offers a great solution. At a time when fiat manipulation and questionable money printing is an issue, Bitcoin is the answer. With Bitcoin, everybody can do his/her verification.

And this is probably one of the reasons why so many politicians are against Bitcoin; because they are thieves.
hero member
Activity: 2814
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In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'
Those critics should at least come to an agreement when it comes to their arguments against bitcoin, one day bitcoin is bad because it helps criminals to get away with their crimes, then the next day bitcoin cannot help criminals as it is transparent and everything is recorded on the blockchain.

Which is it? At this point their attempts to criticize bitcoin just come across as pathetic, as they cannot even come to an agreement about what is wrong with bitcoin and the market as a whole.
sr. member
Activity: 2338
Merit: 365
In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'


Quote
In a scathing critique of the crypto industry, Nassim Taleb, the renowned author of "Black Swan," launched a blistering attack on Bitcoin (BTC), dismissing it as a useless and dangerous phenomenon, reports Business Insider.
Quote
Speaking at the Bloomberg Invest conference, Taleb denounced Bitcoin, asserting that it offered no haven and failed to serve even the purpose of money launderers.
Quote
He debunked the notion that Bitcoin facilitated money laundering, arguing that its traceability made it unsuitable for such illicit activities.

i just laugh at people who discredit bitcoin and call it unfit for use because it is often used by criminals. don't they think that fiat is much more used for crime? take a look at cases of corruption, money laundering, drugs, most of them still use fiat for their transactions, so does that make fiat much better than bitcoin?

so don't think that for reasons like these it makes Bitcoin appear to be a dangerous digital asset and must be abandoned, precisely because it is untraceable and secure it is what makes many people use bitcoin. regardless of the purpose of people using it, it is the right of each one, no one should interfere with it.
full member
Activity: 1190
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Including both the bad and the good, the poor and the rich, the smart and the stupid,... that's the nature of removing the barriers of prejudice in society. The problem is access is not bitcoin's problem, bitcoin enthusiasts try to find their own limits to impose on it the reception that bitcoin has adapted to. I once heard an interesting story about a knife, it was made for cutting, but there are people who use it to harm people, so don't say a good tool or a bad tool, but let's say the person using it is good or not first.
sr. member
Activity: 873
Merit: 268
Well, it's not really true.
When Bitcoin become popular, dark web users started to use it 24/7. If you want to buy something illegal now, the shop will accept BTC 100%.

Before it was harder for illegal shops to get money from clients, but right now it's the easiest thing and no one can catch them because they easily 'clean' their BTC in mixers.

And the fact that bitcoin was created to take control of your own money without banks and government, already means that people who don't want to go to jail will use BTC.
hero member
Activity: 1092
Merit: 747
In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'

He is not the first person to discredit Bitcoin nor will he be the last to speak bad about Bitcoin, but what makes me happy is the fact that the more people tries to discredit it, the more it gain more value and exposure to the public, because though it's true that Bitcoin is transparent & could be traced due to the nature of it's public blockchain, it doesn't stop the fact that Bitcoin is just a mere tool just as fiat currencies such dollars in cash, that is liable to be used for anything, because that people use people for illegal things that don't mean bitcoin is illegal because we have seen situations whereby Bitcoin was used for saving lives and doing the legal stuff, such as for the donation for "Ukraine war victims" back then in 2021.
So to me, I see this as a deliberate attempt by agents of government & banks to poison the minds of people who would have love to invest in Bitcoin to rather see it as scam, so they could  keep saving their funds in banks where they have the utmost control over the people's money.
legendary
Activity: 1554
Merit: 1139
So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh
Well bitcoin wasn't created for any of those purposes. It was created as a p2p currency that exists on the blockchain for users to be able to transact with globally and have no government interference. That's just how I like to or rather look at it.
With the critics, government and even antics trying to rule a line that some worth tags the currency to fraudulent intents and for a means in which, people hopes to hide from the law, it really isn't that. It's traceable after all but, government interference with some financial affairs and how decisions are made on that is what crypto stands to push out of financial system. Its not about fraud.
sr. member
Activity: 854
Merit: 424
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Bitcoin is useful for everyone, good and bad people. It does not exclude either good or bad guys.

Like guns can be used by good people to protect their territory or by bad people to invade another nation. Bitcoinis the same, it can be used by good people to be their own bank, to increase their anonimity and privacy with Coinjoin transactions, mixers but it can be used by criminals to hide their money flow for money laundering activites.
legendary
Activity: 3024
Merit: 2148
Sometimes people who are good at certain field become arrogant and start believing that they have such a high intelligence that it allows them to be experts in all fields. Many of the Bitcoin critics fall into this category - they read one article about Bitcoin and decide that they can comment on it as if this is something that they fully understand.

Bitcoin is useful to criminals, including money launderers, because mixing exists and it's effective. But this doesn't make Bitcoin a silver bullet, because some mixers can be honeypots, or the coins can be un-mixed, or the criminals can make mistakes like using a centralized exchange.

Similarly, Bitcoin can't be totally useless, because there are people who actually pay with it for goods and services, or use it as a saving tool. But how much of the current Bitcoin value comes from pure speculation - that's an open question.
hero member
Activity: 1750
Merit: 589
In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'


Quote
In a scathing critique of the crypto industry, Nassim Taleb, the renowned author of "Black Swan," launched a blistering attack on Bitcoin (BTC), dismissing it as a useless and dangerous phenomenon, reports Business Insider.
Quote
Speaking at the Bloomberg Invest conference, Taleb denounced Bitcoin, asserting that it offered no haven and failed to serve even the purpose of money launderers.
Quote
He debunked the notion that Bitcoin facilitated money laundering, arguing that its traceability made it unsuitable for such illicit activities.
They are already running out of all slanders and negative things to say about bitcoin they are literally going back now and retorted/reused all their previous statements just to say something. Plus I'm not really going to take an options trader's word for it they literally lie as easy as they breathe (Though I think that was well-established now). Funny stuff. Just a while ago I saw a post about bitcoin being racist, pretty sure they'll throw that sometime in the future when things become stale for them again.

They may get an audience from the people who are still skeptical about bitcoin, as well as those who have already made their minds up when it comes to investing in the cryptocurrency giant. But make no mistake, the money's not from the people who get in this industry, it's from the people who build in it. This is not a Ponzi scheme.
legendary
Activity: 2240
Merit: 1993
A Bitcoiner chooses. A slave obeys.
In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'


Quote
In a scathing critique of the crypto industry, Nassim Taleb, the renowned author of "Black Swan," launched a blistering attack on Bitcoin (BTC), dismissing it as a useless and dangerous phenomenon, reports Business Insider.
Quote
Speaking at the Bloomberg Invest conference, Taleb denounced Bitcoin, asserting that it offered no haven and failed to serve even the purpose of money launderers.
Quote
He debunked the notion that Bitcoin facilitated money laundering, arguing that its traceability made it unsuitable for such illicit activities.

I think that at this point, making Bitcoin look bad and reaping all the hatred popularity is exactly what he wants to achieve. The arguments are pure nonsense which even a child can refute. I do not think it wise to give such people a platform and instead it would be much better to just ignore them.

This "author" reminds me of Craig Steven Wright aka "Faketoshi", as a very large amount of people refer to him, due to his slander of Bitcoin and weak arguments. He even lost his nonsensical lawsuits.

It is all about attention and ego, nothing more.
legendary
Activity: 2954
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It is true that Bitcoin isn't good for money laundering since the transaction is transparent and can easily be seen on the blockchain unless they use a mixer to make the traceability of the transaction complex.  But I read somewhere that the FBI can still trace the source of the transaction even though Bitcoin came from a mixing service.  I do not know if that claim is true.

They have probably run out of fallacies to dicredit BTC that they now have to contradict themselves, one side says it helps money launderers, now another is saying it cannot be of help to criminals and money launderers. Don't worry, we all know cash is more useful for the 'bad guys', but the government will say it is BTC because they use cash to launder money Cool.

BTC is permissionless and useful for what you choose, if money launderers want to use it despite the public ledger, it is their choice; if you want to spend it, hold it, send it to someone as a gift, trade with it, or whatever, it has many use cases, and the best part is you don't need anybody's permission to use it for your own particular purpose.

Those who have knowledge of how Bitcoin transaction works and how transparent its blockchain is can tell whether Bitcoin is good for bad guys or not.  It is funny that after all the agenda of Bitcoin being used by bad guys to money laundering, and or perfect for money laundering, now they are trying to discourage money launderers to use Bitcoin because it is transparent.  Probably some of these people who wanted to discredit Bitcoin had started reading and learning about Bitcoins reason why they are now arguing themselves.


hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 673
He is so obsessed with Bitcoin that he doesn't even know the true nature of Bitcoin and how it can actually be used. He has forgotten that the transparency he's talking about is just showing every transaction recorded on the blockchain for the public's view, and those transactions are not linked or attached to anyone's name. I mean, no thief will be stupid enough for them to tie their name to an address, and even when they want to send the coins to a centralized system that can uncover their identity, they have access to mixing service or they can even do it themselves by using any means possible in order not to get caught on the act.

Bitcoin is just the perfect payment solution when looking at it in all its ramifications; everything that can be done with the local currency can be done with Bitcoin, and even more or less. So their deciding if Bitcoin is actually good or bad is just a waste of debate by a bunch of people who don't actually have real work to do with their time.
jr. member
Activity: 50
Merit: 8
You dont need to put any atention on this kind of guys, because they are not talking seriously, they only wants to be in the mouth of everybody and sell his books or sell himself making this hilarious advertisements.

Im 100% sure he doesnt think it at all.
sr. member
Activity: 1470
Merit: 428
Every critic will always find an angle for them to draw their criticism from. After one angle of criticism thrown by the critic has been cleared, a committed critic will just find another angle to base their criticism on.

Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh
To help them make the decision, thieves had the way to move their money before Bitcoins were created, without Bitcoins thieves will still find a way to move their money, And since it does not benefit thieves a lot because of it's transparency, it is good. Bitcoin is good.
legendary
Activity: 3500
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Attitudes change as more information is known.
Even now more and more people who were 'meh' to BTC are accepting it more and more.
And those who were hostile to it are mellowing.

It is what it is. Kind of like people back in the 1980s who were against fuel injection and computer controls in cars, now love the fact that you can get 4x the horsepower with 2x the fuel economy out of the same size engine then you could back then.

It just takes time.

-Dave
hero member
Activity: 3038
Merit: 617
With the conclusion, he could have bought BTC by now otherwise its useless to shill it already. But we are noticing those guys who once didn't believe in BTC are now admiting like Peter Schiff who does have NFTs.

These people would shill something if theyare not going to benefit from it. Talem must be one of the bad guys, they usually are enable to find out BTC is not good for thr bad guys, he must have tried.
hero member
Activity: 2660
Merit: 651
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First, I will thank Nassim Nicholas Taleb for saying it is not useful for the bad guys which I believe will at least some doubt of the people who believe  BTC is meant for illicit activities.
I went further and I notice that what triggered his statement was the poll created by CZ when Binance was suit by the SEC. Technically he make the statement out of frustration because none of them believe Bitcoin will survive till now and since BTC is they will always make some trash comment about it just to cause FUD.
hero member
Activity: 504
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Nassim Taleb is an author known for his controversial views and criticisms of different ideas and concepts.  It is true that he expressed his contempt for Bitcoin, calling it "cult, useless and dangerous."  However, it is important to note that Taleb has often changed his position on various topics over time, and his statements may be subject to interpretation.

it is not necessarily a contradiction to say that Bitcoin is bad because it helps thieves and at the same time point out that Bitcoin cannot be counterfeited or adulterated.  These two aspects could be considered as separate assessments.  Some people may criticize Bitcoin for its possible implications for facilitating illegal activities such as money laundering or terrorist financing.  At the same time, its transparent and immutable nature is often considered a positive feature by cryptocurrency enthusiasts and proponents of blockchain technology, as it offers security and trust in transactions.
hero member
Activity: 994
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They have probably run out of fallacies to dicredit BTC that they now have to contradict themselves, one side says it helps money launderers, now another is saying it cannot be of help to criminals and money launderers. Don't worry, we all know cash is more useful for the 'bad guys', but the government will say it is BTC because they use cash to launder money Cool.

BTC is permissionless and useful for what you choose, if money launderers want to use it despite the public ledger, it is their choice; if you want to spend it, hold it, send it to someone as a gift, trade with it, or whatever, it has many use cases, and the best part is you don't need anybody's permission to use it for your own particular purpose.
hero member
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In an attempt to discredit and disdain Bitcoin once again, 'Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb, ended declaring Bitcoin isn't useful for the 'bad guys' (thieves), due to its transparency and traceability nature which is visible in a public blockchain at anytime, which can't be forged or adulterated.

So much angry against Bitcoin put one of the strongest arguments of the critics in contradiction. Now they have to decide, is Bitcoin bad because it helps thieves, or is it good because it can't benefit thieves? Huh

'Black Swan' Author Destroys Bitcoin (BTC): 'Cult-Like, Useless, and Dangerous'


Quote
In a scathing critique of the crypto industry, Nassim Taleb, the renowned author of "Black Swan," launched a blistering attack on Bitcoin (BTC), dismissing it as a useless and dangerous phenomenon, reports Business Insider.
Quote
Speaking at the Bloomberg Invest conference, Taleb denounced Bitcoin, asserting that it offered no haven and failed to serve even the purpose of money launderers.
Quote
He debunked the notion that Bitcoin facilitated money laundering, arguing that its traceability made it unsuitable for such illicit activities.
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