Former head of CIA responds to critics of Bitcoin over illegal transactions

 

Michael Morell, the former director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, responded to comments about the use of Bitcoin in illegal activities. In her remarks, Morell took aim at names such as U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

The former director of the CIA spoke to Forbes about the illegal use of cryptocurrencies and the fight against it. Raising the importance of financial innovation, he said the United States could “lose momentum” against China if it does not take the right steps in that direction.

The former director put together statements about illegal Bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions in his article “An Analysis of Bitcoin's Use in Illicit Finance.” The article was published with the support of the Crypto Council for Innovation, founded by companies such as Coinbase, Fidelity and Square.

Bitcoin's illegal use is lower

In his article, Michael Morell says generalizations to the illegal use of Bitcoin are “exaggerated.”

Morell cited negative statements by names such as Janet Yellen and Christine Lagarde about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, saying cryptocurrencies are not illegal activities.

“There is probably less illegal activity in the Bitcoin ecosystem than in the traditional banking system, " he said.”

According to Chainalysis data, the illegal use rate of Bitcoin is less than 1%, and this rate is steadily falling. Morell adds that the ratio of illegal activities in the traditional financial system to global GDP may vary between 2% and 4%.

However, Morell noted that national security needs to be aware of the possible impact of cryptocurrencies or other technologies.

Concerned about the digital dollar

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said they would not rush the digital dollar. Morell says that U.S. digital dollar studies are already progressing slowly, so it should not slow down this process further with issues such as whether cryptocurrencies are illegal. 

Blockchain is useful in fighting crime

According to Morell, analysis with blockchain technology is a good tool for combating crime. The former head of the CIA, who cited companies such as Chainalysis, CipherTrace and Elliptic as examples, said: “I am puzzled by how these companies find illegal activities. What has been done is a very good intelligence work." said.