Bill Gates on cryptocurrencies: "Bitcoin can be deadly"

The co-founder of Microsoft said that criminals, terrorists and tax evaders have benefited from the anonymity provided by transactions with cryptocurrencies

The dramatic increase in the value of cryptocurrencies has led the governments of the world's major powers to analyze more in depth their potential impacts both economically and humanly.

While the advance has been received openly by a large part of the technological community, there are concerns about how it could affect markets and aggravate current problems such as money laundering and cyber crime. Today, despite the enthusiasm that is experienced, especially at the financial level, many have taken a critical stance on the dangers of new virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.

Among its most vocal detractors is the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. Become one of the most recognized faces of philanthropy worldwide, Gates said recently, during a Reddit news site event titled "Ask Me What You Want," which is not in favor of cryptocurrencies since criminals, terrorists and evaders Taxes benefit from the anonymous transactions they allow to perform.

"The main characteristic of cryptocurrencies is their anonymity and I do not think this is a good thing." The ability of governments to identify money laundering, tax evasion and financing of terrorists is a positive thing, said one of the richest men. of the world.

As if that were not enough, Gates raised the bet even more and said that virtual currencies "are a rare technology that has caused deaths relatively directly" thanks to the fact that they allow anonymous online drug trade.

Gates made reference to the way in which cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are used to buy drugs online like the synthetic opioid fentanyl. In addition, the technological reference criticized the speculative nature of the "ICO" or initial offers of digital currencies which he described as "super risky" for those who seek to invest in the long term.

The man behind Windows is not the only one to openly criticize the new fever for virtual currencies. Investor Warren Buffet, probably the man most respected by the international financial community, said that the craze for cryptocurrencies "will end in a very bad way".

Many attendees at the conference were unhappy with Gates' statements and said it was a strategy to influence the market, especially considering that during an interview with Bloomberg in 2014, the billionaire had assured that Bitcoin "is better than the traditional currency. "

One of the members of the Reddit community under the alias of "dikkepiemel" said that cryptocurrencies are not doing anything that traditional currencies have not done before. "The US dollar is also used to buy fentanyl and God knows what else," he said.

Beyond his, for some, controversial statements, Gates shared that his focus today is on three fundamental objectives: reduce child death and malnutrition and end polio.

Interestingly, the Gates Foundation, which he manages together with his wife Melinda, has financed the development of bolckchain, the base technology of cryptocurrencies, to be used by merchants in Kenya, and Microsoft is also looking to integrate this technology to verify online identity.