
Bill Gates says crypto-currencies cause deaths - edward
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43239781
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oldcynic
_> "The main feature of crypto-currencies is their anonymity. I don't think
this is a good thing"_

So I suppose cash causes death in Bill's world view then?

~~~
tim333
He replied to that point:

>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.

Link to the reddit conversation:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/80ow6w/im_bill_gates_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/80ow6w/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/dux2mp7/)

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neilsimp1
To be fair, he's not really saying crypto-currencies cause deaths. He's saying
_anonymous_ currencies can cause death. It sounds like he could be in favor of
a regulated crypto-currency.

~~~
geezerjay
> He's saying anonymous currencies can cause death.

To be more precise, his point was that the ability to transfer large amounts
of cash anonymously without any control or oversight is something that favours
all sorts of illicit activities.

And cryptocurrencies in general and bitcoin in particular do just that.

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notsofastbuddy
How many deaths has Windows "caused", through military uses etc.? How about
PowerPoint?

~~~
NickM
Most folks would argue that the value people have derived from Windows and
PowerPoint far outweigh any such downsides. Whether we can say the same about
cryptocurrencies is much more easily debatable.

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NickM
Forget drugs, I wonder how many people have been killed by the additional
emissions from all the extra electricity being generated to power Bitcoin
alone.

It's virtually impossible to measure something like that of course, but the
WHO estimates about seven million premature deaths occur per year due to air
pollution, and certainly some portion of that pollution comes from electricity
generation. With the enormous amount of power being sucked up by
cryptocurrencies, it's not unreasonable to think that they're directly causing
some non-insignificant amount of sickness and death.

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JhonHeyden
Bill Gates, the philanthropist and former chief executive of Microsoft, is
concerned about the craze for cryptocurrency, saying that the anonymity
offered by the new technology has "caused deaths in a fairly direct way."

In the group interview, Gates had harsh words for other speculative
technologies. Elon Musk's Hyperloop concept of using a railgun to pull a
passenger compartment in a low pressure tube at several hundred kilometers per
hour was rejected: "I'm not sure that the Hyperloop concept makes sense ", he
said. . "Make security is difficult."

But Gates was optimistic about the general direction of technology, dismissing
fears that increasing automation could have negative consequences for the
economy in general, and citing natural language understanding as the most
promising technology for the next decade. To learn more about this type of
cryptocurrency news just visit
[https://cryptonewstrends.com/](https://cryptonewstrends.com/)

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gesman
Bill can solve it by investing billions to build private quantum computer and
then solve and disclose all private keys. Thus driving value of all bitcoins
to zero.

Ohhh by then I guess quantum secure coins will pop up!

Never mind ....

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aje403
I'm trying to figure out just a single comment on this thread to point out the
idiocy of but so far I'm unable to pick any one in particular. Hopefully there
will be some rational comments here at some point.

I can't see any justifiable reason for _needing_ to hide crypto assets from
the government in a developed country, other than _wanting_ to hide them. If
you need to hide your assets, please move to a 3rd world country where the
government doesn't spend large amounts of money to stop your neighbor from
running into your house with a gun and stealing your possessions

~~~
piracykills
Ah, the classic "Who needs privacy if you've got nothing to hide". I'm just
glad most people don't think that way.

~~~
aje403
No, the classic, a government is justified in trying to prevent money
laundering and I don't care about my neighbor's right to circumvent capital
gains taxes under a false facade of a libertarian shield

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RickJWag
I think Bill's right. Anonymity for cash can enable many bad things, I can't
think of many moral reasons for it.

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freqn
Bill needs to stick with what he actually knows about.

~~~
steego
Where is Bill wrong?

Many cryptocurrencies _are_ well-tested vehicles for laundering money and
conducting illicit business. Also, the speculative wave around ICOs _does_
introduce volatility and jeopardize long-term value. Speculative waves have
always acted like a double-edged swords when it comes to long-term investing.
They bring in capital and generate excitement, but they can also create turbid
markets dominated by people who don't care about fundamentals or first
principles.

> Bill needs to stick with what he actually knows about.

In the four years you've been on this site, you haven't exactly dazzled us
with any insight. Maybe you can break your 2 sentence limit today and explain
why Bill is out of his element.

~~~
freqn
Seriously??.. ROFL.. Sorry to burst your bubble there steeeeego with your
pointing out of what's already obvious, but I have no need to dazzle anyone.
Get a grip & get outside once in a while. Fresh air might do you well.

~~~
steego
> Sorry to burst your bubble there steeeeego with your pointing out of what's
> already obvious

Some may even say _condescendingly_ obvious

> I have no need to dazzle anyone.

I may have overstated things a bit for dramatic effect, but writing a short,
cogent paragraph that shares your point of view will most likely not dazzle
anyone. If anything, people will most likely simply read it like it was
written by a regular user who uses the discussion board to discuss things.

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cjcfjrf
Click bait headline, Oh BBC. What has life come to

~~~
jdamon96
how is it clickbait? he said this pretty directly

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elmar
Probably the major cause of deaths in the world is the US Dollar, and BTW Bill
is totally outdated everyone doing something fishy as moved to Monero by now.

~~~
uhnuhnuhn
"Probably the major cause of deaths in the world is the US Dollar"

How did you come to this conclusion? At least Bill Gates gave his reasoning
for his statement.

Also: Whataboutism.

~~~
elmar
With what the military complex is paid? With what are drugs bought and sold?

.... ....

If we follow Bill logic, the guns that are used in school shootings were
bought using US dollars so the US dollar is responsible for the deaths.

I thought it was so self-evident that no explanation was needed.

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uhnuhnuhn
You could still pay the military with any other currency, including crypto.
You cannot buy drugs online or easily finance terrorism anonymously without
cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency enables new illicit transactions and
marketplaces.

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thriftwy
Cucumbers also cause deaths. Around 95% of people who die ate cucumbers.

~~~
freqn
I know that everyone who uses a fork will die.

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padobson
_He was referring to the way digital currencies like Bitcoin are used to buy
drugs like synthetic opioid fentanyl._

 _anonymity of digital currencies meant they were linked to terrorist funding
and money laundering_

It sounds like he means drug overdoses, black market violence, and terrorists
attacks kill people.

But at least he knows malaria kills far more people than those three combined.
He should probably get back to solving that.

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Eyas
> But at least he knows malaria kills far more people than those three
> combined. He should probably get back to solving that.

Good news he is :)

Honestly, some of the responses in this article are a bit defensive-- he was
asked what he thinks of crypto currencies, and he answered that he doesn't
think the social impact of anonymous cash is good. There's a sense in this
thread that he is going around attacking crypto currency, when he is in fact
expressing his view of how anonymous decentralized currencies can
enable/facilitate dangerous things to happen.

~~~
AnIdiotOnTheNet
The cryptocoin crowd is ridiculously defensive by nature. They have to be, the
value of their funbux relies significantly on speculation so negative press is
threatening to their pocket book.

