crypto-currencies cause deaths " Bale Gates "
Crypto-currencies are killing people in a "fairly
direct way", Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said.
He was referring to the way digital
currencies like Bitcoin are used to buy drugs like synthetic opioid fentanyl.
In an "ask me anything"
session on news website Reddit, he said that the anonymity of digital
currencies meant they were linked to terrorist funding and money laundering.
Some
criticised him, saying he was ill-informed about the technology.
Asked by one user for his opinion on the
technology, Mr Gates replied: "The main feature of crypto-currencies 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.
"Right
now, crypto-currencies are used for buying fentanyl and other drugs so it is a
rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way. I think the
speculative wave around ICOs [initial coin offerings] and crypto-currencies is
super risky for those who go long."
Veteran investor
Warren Buffet has previously said that the speculative crypto-currency craze
"will come to a bad end".
Mr Gates
has not always been so cynical about Bitcoin. In 2014, in an interview on Bloomberg TV, he said that Bitcoin "was
better than currency".
His less
than enthusiastic response on Reddit did not go down well with all those
participating in the debate, with some reproaching him for what they felt was
an attempt to influence the market. Others suggested that he needed to look
again at the Bitcoin white paper.
Charitable donations
In the wide-ranging Reddit chat, Mr Gates told
the audience that his top three goals were "reducing both childhood death
and malnutrition and ending polio".
Mr Gates is
co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which spends billions each
year on education and health projects.
The
foundation has also sponsored the development of blockchain - the technology
that underpins crypto-currenices - for merchants in Kenya.
Microsoft
is also looking to integrate blockchain-based technology for verifying digital
identity.
The rise in
value of crypto-currency has prompted governments around the world to look more
closely at its impact on economies and citizens.
While the
technology underlying it is often praised, there are concerns about how it
could disrupt the economy as well as its links to cyber-crime and money
laundering.
The UK's
Treasury Committee is currently investigating the impact of such currencies.
crypto-currencies cause deaths " Bale Gates "
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March 01, 2018
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