Debate: Do you think criminals do more good than harm to bitcoin? - page 2.

okae

legendary

Activity: 1401

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northern exposure

Quote from: countryfree on October 30, 2015, 06:23:31 AM

If you check a search engine, you'll find thousands of entries for "narcodollar". But I don't see the dollar suffering much from this situation. In Europe, the Red Cross doesn't mind using the same Euros as the Italian mafia. I have knives in my kitchen, they probably can be used to kill people, but I need them to eat.

thats why i always said that there is a dark intention behind this, something like trying to destabilize bitcoin, in last months you can see that there is lots of news related to that, in the end all those things just made me think that bitcoin is doing well, since they seems to be very scared Wink

countryfree

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Your country may be your worst enemy

If you check a search engine, you'll find thousands of entries for "narcodollar". But I don't see the dollar suffering much from this situation. In Europe, the Red Cross doesn't mind using the same Euros as the Italian mafia. I have knives in my kitchen, they probably can be used to kill people, but I need them to eat.

Anmol_Verma

member

Activity: 112

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Well professionally it does help others coz the price increased after that incident but it might soon dump coz the criminals will sell it soon.Overall it has negative effect because it also spreads negative information about bitcoin.

7788bitcoin

legendary

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Use of bitcoin by criminals will only do harm to bitcoin. Many of my friends are aware of bitcoin and think it is something related to illegal activities, and they never take bitcoin seriously.

doublemore

hero member

Activity: 546

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At the moment the mainstream media has such a large influence they can make new things appear bad to the masses no matter how much criminal activity there is or isn't. It probably doesn't matter much either way. Things like mtgox did dent confidence though for sure.

CoinThug

member

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Merit: 10

Well criminals are criminals. So for me it harm bitcoin. Because bitcoin should be peaceful.

teukon

legendary

Activity: 1246

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What precisely does "harm to Bitcoin" mean? Are we talking about attacks on the network or a reduction in what is called "market cap"?

In both cases I suspect that our limited historical data will reveal criminal activity being pretty good for Bitcoin in the short term (with the occasional exception).

Of course, there are people that would use Bitcoin were it not for various stories linking it to criminal activity. I'd argue that many of these people would only harm Bitcoin by adopting it today. They would be easily scammed, lose money/keys, create volatility, and complain loudly about their negative experiences.

Bitcoin today is usable by more than just crypto ninjas but it is certainly not suitable for the weak-minded, the irresponsible, or the naive.

As for Bitcoin's long-term prospects, other uncertainties surely dominate public perception concerning crime. If Bitcoin does continue to grow and infrastructure forms allowing even the economically childish to benefit from its use then an advertising campaign declaring an end to Bitcoin's "wild west" should prove a cheap and effective manipulation.

dollarneed

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Activity: 742

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Quote from: darkangel11 on October 29, 2015, 09:01:20 AM

Yes, I think they bring a lot of attention to Bitcoin and put it in the news. It's free advertising where's the harm in that?

like this?
this happened in my country Indonesia and its headline news right now
the suspect (suspected bombers) demanded 100 bitcoin from management of Mall Alam Sutera unfortunately they just give him 0.25 Bitcoin, he was arrested by the police on wednesday evening (oct 28 2015)
http://www.pressreader.com/indonesia/the-jakarta-post/20151030/281539404821793/TextView
So the advantage is people asking what is bitcoin? then they knew it (free advertising)
disadvantage well, all we know that

pereira4

legendary

Activity: 1610

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Every publicity is good publicity. Remember that in the early days of the internet, all we had was a bunch of people telling us how it was evil, the idea of people communicating worldwide and without any censorship. Everything that threatens privacy is seen as "evil" but eventually the mainstream catches up.

Betwrong

legendary

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Merit: 2198

I stand with Ukraine.

Quote from: brunoshady on October 29, 2015, 05:23:25 AM

Lately I have seen another news of some kidnappers demanding ransom in bitcoin. Then the family seems to be really bought $1.7M worth of BTC (about 5.5k BTC as my estimate). This would be one of the reason for the recent price increase ($1.7M is a lot of money!). However medias keep spreading false information on bitcoin, like stating 'bitcoin is using widely in criminals' etc.

So how do you think? Does the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Personally I don't think such events are good for Bitcoin. It is already associated with criminals too much. That's why some people who hate criminals avoid using BTC.

gentlemand

legendary

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Welt Am Draht

Nothing any of us lot can do about it. What someone can do is keep plugging away until the criminal element is drowned out by the normal folks using it. I'm not so sure criminals have thought it through very much. They may have all those lovely coins but selling them for local currency is likely to be their undoing.

franky1

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Merit: 4794

Quote from: brunoshady on October 29, 2015, 05:23:25 AM

Lately I have seen another news of some kidnappers demanding ransom in bitcoin. Then the family seems to be really bought $1.7M worth of BTC (about 5.5k BTC as my estimate). This would be one of the reason for the recent price increase ($1.7M is a lot of money!). However medias keep spreading false information on bitcoin, like stating 'bitcoin is using widely in criminals' etc.

So how do you think? Does the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

if it wasnt for the likes of silkroad, world media would never have really started to report/investigate bitcoin.
so although the criminal use of bitcoin is bad for bitcoins reputation, it has helped give alot of free advertising and got discussions happening in the real world, sparking peoples need to look into things they dont fully understand.

but now i think that good news, such as bloomberg and RT saying about bitcoin being an investment option has prompted alot of investors to get in on it. rather then the silk road stuff

darkangel11

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Don't let others control your BTC -> self custody

Yes, I think they bring a lot of attention to Bitcoin and put it in the news. It's free advertising where's the harm in that?

JeWay

hero member

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I suggest it's as a advantage, it's good for me as long as the price increase Grin

Q7

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

Nope it's the other way round. The problem is the media has been spinning all the information they want it to so that they can sell the news. Fact is all the negative revelations are actually hurting bitcoin reputation is some way or another. Not that we can control it but if only there is something that can be done to change it.

christycalhoun

sr. member

Activity: 378

Merit: 250

I am for any sort of activity as long as it helps bring up the price. It is so easy to launder money with bitcoins so of course there will be criminals.

unamis76

legendary

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I don't see how this could be positive in any way, especially in what concerns mainstream media and how they display Bitcoin. Virtual currencies are being shown to be powered by criminals, for criminals, just because someone buys drugs with those instead of fiat Roll Eyes

Never seen this kind of propaganda about fiat currencies, especially on media that's controlled by governments.

That being said, looks like pretty much anything on the news about Bitcoin isn't that good... Cheesy

ranochigo

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Crypto Swap Exchange

In general, they do more harm to Bitcoin. People would link Bitcoin to criminal activities. It would hinder the adoption rate as most would think it is illegal as it is easily used for criminal activites. On the other side, bad publicity is still publicity. It still allows the mass public to know the existence of Bitcoin and some may research on it.

prodigy8

hero member

Activity: 532

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Well i don't know why people accuse bitcoin.
And don't accuse the thief or kidnapper which is trying to leave negative to bitcoin.
What must we say when this man asks in dollars, should dollar consider as a bad thing?

medUSA

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--Signature Designs-- http://bit.ly/1Pjbx77

Quote from: brunoshady on October 29, 2015, 05:23:25 AM

However medias keep spreading false information on bitcoin, like stating 'bitcoin is using widely in criminals' etc.
So how do you think? Does the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

I do think bitcoin IS widely used by criminals. Media is not spreading completely false information. The point is USD is also widely used by criminals and people are used to it. Media believes "bitcoin" is more news worthy.

No, I don't like it. There is no advantage when bitcoin is being associated with crimes. When Bitcoin is portrayed as criminal money, real users like us have to explain to people that this isn't the case. It isn't easy too. While explaining to them, I have to consciously avoid bitcoin's role in gambling, scams and prostitution too.

I believe we simply need to wait for more commonly legit way of spending bitcoin before this stereotype can disappear.

Topic: Debate: Do you think criminals do more good than harm to bitcoin? - page 2. (Read 2198 times)