Cryptocurrency has blown up in in the tech community for a long while now. While there are many fans of the cryptocurrency, there are also others, like Bill Gates, that are not fans of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, despite the growing enthusiasm.
In a Reddit Ask Me Anything discussion Tuesday, Gates said that he opposes cryptocurrencies because criminals, terrorists and tax evaders benefit big from the anonymous transactions allowed.
“The main feature of cryptocurrencies is their anonymity. I don’t think this is a good thing. The government’s ability to find money laundering and tax evasion and terrorist funding is a good thing,” Gates wrote, responding to a question. Gates says that because cryptocurrency allows for anonymous trading in drugs online, it’s “a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way.”
While Gates has made it known that cryptocurrency is dangerous, there’s also the flip side where supporters like Charles Hayter, CEO of digital currency information firm CryptoCompare, says that Gates’ comments are “true to an extent but slightly naive.”
“Naturally, cryptocurrencies were given their first utility in the dark markets,” Hayter told Newsweek. “That trend is declining with the majority of business now legitimate. The dollar has had its fair share of direct deaths too and will continue to do so. We have to look beyond these initial trials and tribulations towards the potential for a dimensionless value transfer system.”
