A hacking group has announced it is switching to Monero, a form of cryptocurrency that can be impossible to trace. No longer content merely to steal from ordinary people at random, the group wants to reduce its risk by hiding completely from law enforcement.
As of December 2019, Monero was sometimes impossible to trace. Europol couldn’t always trace it, the UK government was trying to pay someone to develop a way to trace it, and most countries aren’t particularly close to being prepared for its use: Reuters reported last year that “few [countries] have set out comprehensive strategies for dealing with digital coins.”
Because transactions are so hard to trace, cryptocurrency is used for a lot of illegal activity, such as hacking and buying the proceeds of that hacking. Consequently, it enjoys a less-than-stellar reputation in the eyes of many powerful people.
As Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard noted in a speech last year, “One study estimated that more than a quarter of bitcoin users and roughly half of bitcoin transactions, for example, are associated with illegal activity.” That study was based on data from no later than May 2017, so if you’re betting that cybercriminals have increased bitcoin use in scamming, theft and other nefarious behavior, you’re probably not wrong.
The other big barrier to cryptocurrency legitimacy is that their values can fluctuate severely. But that can be true of nearly anything of monetary value, which isn’t innately a reason to dismiss it.
Nonetheless, many investors seeking a reliable return on their investment rather than a roller coaster ride are going to find their safe haven in a moderately performing mutual fund. That might be part of the reason why most bitcoin investors are fairly young. They have the time to sit around and wait for periods of volatility to even themselves out while buying into the latest exciting digital trend.
With that background established, what might happen if hackers embraced Monero and bitcoin itself became more accepted by the commercial banking and business establishment?
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