Since Bitcoin was created a couple of years ago, it has been associated with criminal activity by thousands of people from all around the world, which is also perhaps, one of the main reasons why it hasn’t grown faster.
Well, as an effort to combat digital currency criminality, the Blockchain Alliance was formed, which is practically a public-private forum, between bitcoin executives and law enforcement, which are bound to work together to find digital currency criminals, using bitcoin-related platforms, and put them into justice’s arms.
While the Alliance has been called a forum, it is more of an on-going event, which consists of an email list that will be used to foster the purpose of combating digital currency crime, while also further improving the image of the cryptocurrency in the eyes of the public.
To make this forum work, there will be participants from some of the top Bitcoin companies, including both policy folks, but also executives from firms such as Coinbase, ItBit, Xapo, Circle, BitGo, BitPay, BitFury and more. These companies will create partnerships with law-enforcement organizations, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals, but also the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
For some reason, the general public and the press will not be allowed to join the forum, and neither will they be given data regarding the on-going investigations and other activities of the forum.
Regardless of this, it’s important to note the fact that the digital currency industry and law enforcement agencies have been at odds in the past, as bitcoin and other crypto-currencies have indeed been used to finance criminal activities. However, the partnership will take those using bitcoin for illegal purposes down, while also giving Bitcoin a better image, which will surely influence its popularity and value in the near future.
This forum/partnership comes at the right time, as during the last couple of weeks, lots of banks have begun closing their doors to bitcoin companies, due to the negative image that the cryptocurrency has in the eyes of many people. High-profile criminal cases such as the Silk Road and the Mt. Gox investigations have played an important role in making people think that bitcoin is the currency of the evil, and that only criminals use it, thus making people forget the true purpose behind it, and why it’s bound to positively change our financial system.
While we’re not yet sure how this forum will work, we expect that from time to time, law enforcement will proceed to ask bitcoin executives various questions, about trading practices, or about certain users which are suspects in investigations.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, do you think that the Blockchain Alliance is a step forward for the cryptocurrency, or that it’ll compromise the privacy that Bitcoin strives to offer? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.