With so many widespread opinions on the assumption that bitcoin is either ethical or unethical, i find it really interesting to read and understand peoples personal views on such an imbalance of definition. The fact that bitcoin can be anonymously used to conduct transactions between any account holder, anywhere and anytime across the globe, makes it rather flattering and attractive to criminals.
Bitcoin has been circling the tech world for a few decades now, dipping into the deep dark web where it seized to hold such an incredible stance of power amongst some of the most notorious people in the world. Many people will associate Bitcoin with the website “The silk road”, which was ‘created’ by Ross Ulbricbht, who some of you will know by the name Dread Pirate Roberts.
Such negativity towards Bitcoin has been heavily influenced by its involvement with some of the worlds most organised gangs, such a legacy has haltered Bitcoins progression on its path to becoming legal tender in all countries across the world. Some of the concerns that surround Bitcoin are;
The mere fact that it is handled anonymously has raised a lot of attention thus consequently exposing itself to money laundering leading to law enforcement officers concerned about the decentralised nature of the currency. As the currency is exchanged over the internet it offers a convenient way to conduct cross border transactions with no exchange fees.
Further negatives which surround the virtual currency are; it doesnt take a physical form and there is no valuation guarantee. Due to the lack of central authority governing Bitcoins, nobody can guarantee its minimum valuation leaving customers of Bitcoin unaware of the potential downfall in cost of a specific Bitcoin. With such fluctuation of price, is the price of a product set in Bitcoin going to be the same today as it will be tomorrow ? This element of confusion casts shadow upon the practicality of using this virtual currency in the real world.
Whilst the negatives may overpower the positives, Bitcoin still has many positives with many countries pushing for its use as legal tender. After all, countries such as Canada, Australia and The EU have backed Bitcoin to become legal tender. Now … one of the main positives in my opinion is that any transaction completed is untraceable - in a world where almost everything you touch online becomes data that can be stolen or spied on by big organisations or criminals, many people have seeked solace in the fact that members of the public are fighting back against organisations and governments who access personal data without their permission, but thats another story about the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden and his fight against the privatization of personal data and government surveillance.
Ethical or unethical, you can make your own mind up, but Bitcoin is growing and is slowly becoming part of society, and as the famous saying goes, knowledge is power. In my opinion we need to accept that Bitcoin will be amongst us and create laws and regulations that surround its use to avoid obvious criminal activities instead of just pretending it doesn’t exist. Companies need to evolve or become extinct.
