Slashdot Mirror
Bill Gates: Cryptocurrency Is 'Rare Technology That Has Caused Deaths In a Fairly Direct Way' (cnbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: During a recent "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, the Microsoft co-founder said that the main feature of cryptocurrencies is the anonymity they provide to buyers, and Gates thinks that can actually be harmful. "The government's ability to find money laundering and tax evasion and terrorist funding is a good thing," he wrote. "Right now, cryptocurrencies are used for buying fentanyl and other drugs, so it is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way." When a Reddit user pointed out that plain cash can also be used for illicit activities, Gates said that crypto stands out because it can be easier to use. "Yes -- anonymous cash is used for these kinds of things, but you have to be physically present to transfer it, which makes things like kidnapping payments more difficult," he wrote. Gates also warned that the wave of speculation surrounding cryptocurrencies is "super risky for those who go long."
The most deadly currency I can think of is Oil.
Windows 10 is pretty convincing proof that anonymity is frowned upon.
President Orange Julius once remarked that Bill Gates should help find a way to 'shut off the internet' to stop bad guys. If he's saying something about cryptocurrencies, our dumbass in chief will think it's gospel.
Just because Bill Gates repeats what's been said for years, it's more relevant?
Trying to finger crypto-currency as "more evil than cash" because it's "easier to use" seems to be cherry-picking scenarios.
How many times is cash used for illicit transactions because it's so straightforward? You can't do a thing with a crypto-currency unless you're tech savvy enough to set up some kind of wallet to receive the funds, and then you have to deal with a buyer who is equally savvy to pay you with them. And right now, you have long waits for most transactions to complete if you're using a well established e-currency like bitcoin. So that's another obstacle in some situations.
I mean, technically, he's not wrong. I'm sure people have died because of drugs that were bought and sold using cryptocoins. I just don't think the tech itself is ever anything but neutral. Again, the problem lies in the motivations of the sellers and buyers - not the payment method.
Don't forget his charitable foundation that has also caused many deaths by pushing American drug company agendas in the developing world.
it's that it's harder to trace. In theory if you can keep your name from being associated with your wallet it's impossible to trace. But it doesn't need to be impossible. A locked car is harder to steal, not impossible to steal. Similarly you just need to make it hard enough to trace money laundering that the relevant authorities time/money runs out.
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"Tempers are wearing thin. Let's just hope some robot doesn't kill everybody." --Bender
I am seriously frustrated that some non-informative blabber from grandpa Gates is published on Slashdot, while even exciting new IT research results like the one linked here do not qualify for publication.
Does Bill sponsor Slashdot for citing him so often?
billg is right about this, but most of the harm is only to Americans and Canadians who have shortened their lifespans due to said pharmaceuticals, and to a lesser extent those who died as the result of oil and coal exploration, extraction, processing, and shipping to provide the electricity to generate them.
On a global scale, these "epidemics" are mostly reduced.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
When you buy a gun and kill someone, no one says "OH MY GOD, US DOLLARS KILLED HIM."
That is not "Direct" harm. That is not even secondary harm. That is very, very, very indirect harm. Tertiary at best.
The shooter and the gun 'directly' caused the harm. The secondary cause might be the drug sales or whatever made you mad enough to kill him.
The stuff you used to buy the weapon? That's at best tertiary. Not a direct cause.
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Someday, when you are old enough, you will pay taxes. Will you take your standard $6,350 deduction, or will you skip it to evade paying taxes?
Bill believing crypto-currencies to be "anonymous" is just one more proof of him being detached from reality. Crypto-currencies are as transparent as could be - and people will be convicted for crimes they committed decades ago, due to the block-chains preserving the evidence forever.
They're not inherently anonymous, but they can be anonymous if you can keep your wallet and all transactions made separated from anything that personally identifies you. Easier said than done, naturally, but those using them for nefarious purposes are motivated to do so and seem to have reasonable success.
it is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way.
Bill, this is gunpowder. Gunpowder, Bill.
Every end has half a stick.
I didn't expect anything else: the guy who most benefits from the current finantial system bashing a trending, actually revolutionary. It is quite shameful to see him resort to such a low blow. It's like saying: "hey, 20 people died making this humongous undersea tunnel", without acknowledging the bridge prevents 200 deaths a year out of whatever the fuck they did to cross the straight before.
Seriously, this guy has been the top richest dude, in the world, for 18 out of the last 23 years. He has - wait scratch that -
him and his next 10 generations have absolutely no say in the matter of "what is fairer than what we have now?". Fairness is seriously not something at play here.
I assume he and everybody else know Microsoft has surely caused deaths in a fairly direct way as much as any cryptocurrency, and just like crypto, none of them were part of the plan. Obviously not as direct as, say Smith and Wesson, Heckler and Koch, Lockheed Martin or any so-called "defense"-related company, but even those have their own sorry excuses for liability.
But screw "fairly" - you know what causes human death in a very fucking objectively direct way? Other humans. And maybe old age and disease and natural disaster. Now go get an actually decent argument to bash crypto, you know, like common people have to do when they want to make a point instead of using that odd "I am so popular I can say anything" falacy.
"Bitcoin is easy!"
. I can cite military Navy vessels being sank due to improperly applied Windows 2000 patches.
Bull Fucking Shit!. Name one.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
You have my condolences on your loss. Should have been playing World of Tanks, then your ass wouldn't have gotten sunk.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.