DEA Says Illegal Activity Has Gone from 90% to Only 10% of Bitcoin Trading
Aug 8, 2018, 12:00PM
A US DEA agent said to Bloomberg that illegal activity now only accounts for 10% of the total transaction volume of the Bitcoin Network.
According to agent Lilita Infante, who works as a Cyber Investigative Task Force agent for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), illegal activity accounts for only 10% of the total transaction volume of the Bitcoin Network. According to Infante, although speculative use now represents almost 90% of total transactions, the total illegal transaction volume has increased since 2013.
In an interview with Bloomberg Infante said,
The volume has grown tremendously, the amount of transactions and the dollar value has grown tremendously over the years in criminal activity, but the ratio has decreased. […] The majority of transactions are used for price speculation.
The figures revealed by agent Infante go against the commonly held belief that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are mainly being used for illegal motives. Although this may have been the case several years ago when Bitcoin was better-known for its association to the Dark Web marketplace called the ‘Silk Road’, now law enforcement understands how to use the immutability and traceability of blockchain transactions to track funds and who is sending and receiving them.
According to agent Infante, while wallet addresses once may have worked as a way to hide people’s identities, this is “not [the case] anymore”, and they even “have ways of tracking” transactions made on the more privacy-focused blockchains like Monero and Zcash. Infante also said that “she’s fine” with criminals using cryptocurrencies since,
The blockchain actually gives us a lot of tools to be able to identify people. […] I actually want them to keep using them.
Disclaimer: information contained herein is provided without considering your personal circumstances, therefore should not be construed as financial advice, investment recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation for, any transactions in cryptocurrencies.
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