One of my girlfriends just sent me this from class 😏 wanna help me respond to each point so I can send it to her and she can send to her professor (possibly read out loud to her class).

Here is my initial response to her. The goal was to keep it as basic / easy to understand as possible and as short as possible. 👇

Why cryptocurrencies are used by criminals?

🙋‍♀️ Note: cryptocurrencies are very different from Bitcoin. “Cryptocurrencies” is a general category, so I can’t defend the overall category because all of them but one are shit, and that one is Bitcoin. So I can make arguments for Bitcoin.

• Cryptocurrencies are an additional financial source for criminals

🙋‍♀️ - And so is cash. Most criminal activities are done in fiat. The amount of bitcoin used for criminal activities is less than 1%. Also I want to emphasize that while Bitcoin has been used for a few illegal transactions, its transparent and traceable nature often make it a LESS ATTRACTIVE option for criminal activities compared to untraceable cash transactions.

• Single unit can be crashed to one hundred million.

🙋‍♀️ - And… lol what’s the problem with that? This divisibility makes Bitcoin accessible and usable for small transactions, increasing its utility and inclusiveness.

For the same reasons $1 can also be split (crashed) into 100 pennies. It’s a normal feature of money.

• Round-the-clock transactions

🙋‍♀️ - Yeah this is good for criminals and for the average citizen. Because fuck the banks making me wait for their ass to show up to their 9-5 in order for me to ask them to use MY OWN money. Thank goodness for 24/7 access, should have always been this way.

• Cross-border nature

🙋‍♀️ Exactly, it’s a feature, not a a bug. This is the whole point. It’s my money and I should be able to go anywhere with it. Imagine (this won’t be hard for you to imagine 🤲) You are a Syran refugee crossing borders and you only have what’s in your bag. You can’t carry bricks of gold (too heavy), you can’t take all jewelry (someone can/ will rob you of this), you can’t take cash with you because you will have to pay a tax on anything over $10k, you can’t hope to exchange your money to your new location because who will exchange SYP for the local currency? Only with Bitcoin can you easily cross boarders and feel safe knowing that no one can rob you of your bitcoin and you can exchange it into any currency, no matter what border you have crossed.

Bitcoin facilitates financial inclusion for those without access to traditional banking systems and provides a secure way to preserve wealth in unstable political or economic environments.

• Tangled transaction chains

🙋‍♀️ - I think they are referring to mixing coins (coin join). In that case, this is also fine. It can provide privacy and security, much like how encrypted communication protects users' data and conversations.

Even if you have nothing to “hide” everyone wants privacy. Just because you close the blinds on your windows at night does not mean you have something to “hide”, it’s just that you want privacy for example when you are taking a shower or simply eating dinner with your family.

• Irrecoverability of transactions

🙋‍♀️- This is true, but if someone knows how to store it and how to use it then it’s not a risk. It was the same with gold back in the day. People just need to learn to be responsible again and this won’t be an issue.

• Relative closedness of transfers

🙋‍♀️ - While Bitcoin transactions are pseudonymous, the blockchain ledger is public and transparent. This transparency ensures a level of openness and auditability that is certainly not always present in traditional financial systems.

• Decentralized emission

🙋‍♀️ - The decentralized nature of Bitcoin is a strength, not a weakness. It means no central authority can devalue the currency through inflationary policies. It also ensures resilience and continuity, as there's no single point of failure.

• Issues with law regulation

🙋‍♀️ - There are no real issues because it is impossible to ban. No one can stop peer-to-peer use cases. Nevertheless many countries are working towards developing regulations that balance innovation with consumer protection.