Bitcoin and Criminal Activity

In October 2017 Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase Bank, said "there is a use case for bitcoin. If you're a criminal, great product." Of course, he failed to mention that the vast majority of criminal activity is conducted in cash. An analysis team of a bitcoin forensics company, Ellicit, indicated that less than 1% of all bitcoin transactions involve money laundering.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that 2 – 5% of global GDP is money laundering. This means that money is laundered in cash at a rate of at least twice that of bitcoin and up to 5X that amount. Criminals obviously have an incentive not to get caught, so if bitcoin was a "great product" to conduct criminal activity, the statistics would be reversed. Jamie Dimon is clearly wrong. Cash is a better means of hiding criminal activity.

Don't worry Jamie, cash still has a use case. If you're a criminal or a banker (is there a difference?), great product.

Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/13/jamie-dimon-says-people-who-buy-bitcoin-are-stupid.html
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-laundering-less-than-one-percent-of-all-transactions
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/globalization.html
https://blockchain.info/charts/estimated-transaction-volume-usd