SEX AND DRUGS IN BLOCKCHAIN?

By Juan Molina | Juan Molina | 29 Sep 2019

Now that I managed to capture your attention with the title of my post, let me tell you that I did not do it just to impress you. Actually Sex and Drugs are in Blockchain. As we can guess, this sooner or later was going to happen. The sex industry market moves millions of dollars a year, this is legal. What do I want to say? Simple, when in a commercial of a vehicle brand we see a semi-naked girl, apart from the car we are selling sex. But let's be more explicit. There are legal brothels that are already accepting payment in cryptocurrency. The narcotics industry, according to UN reports, generates more than 500 million dollars a year. Dirty money, coming from death, badly done. Money that needs to take a legal course within the global financial apparatus. So I just talked to you about two of the biggest "industries" in the world and so much money flow needs to be managed and accounted for in the best way. Blockchain is the largest accounting book in the world. A book where I can place my money. A book where I can remain anonymous. We have the perfect mix!My intention is not at any time to discredit the Blockchain industry, I just want to comment on some cases of use, which relate the Blockchain and the cryptocurrencies with two of the largest financial organizations in the world.

"In my opinion, the transfer of funds using the chain of blocks is not the fault of the block chain itself. But, rather, an unfortunate use of their kindnesses."

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SEX

A well-known legal brothel located in Nevada called "Bunny Ranch"announced the acceptance of Bitcoin (according to them) for the first time in history as payment of the fees of the girls who work there. It all started when Lana West a worker from the establishment charged the equivalent of 2000 USD in Bitcoin. The payment was made with a transfer of the client's digital wallet and that of the lady. Backpage is a website where independent sex workers could offer their services by hosting catalogs with all the necessary information for their clients (this before their confiscation in April 2018). This website was investigated by the US authorities for allegedly encouraging and encouraging users to publish advertisements related to prostitution and trafficking in persons, particularly minors. Before their total confiscation, VISA and MASTERCARD were removed from Backpage, that left Bitcoin (and two other cryptocurrencies, Litecoin and Dogecoin), as the only way that sex workers They could pay to publish their ads. This situation led to the creation of Guidelines for independent sex workers to learn the use of Bitcoin. From another point of view, we find that there is a terrifying phishing scam that also involves sex and cryptocurrency. The practices of sexual extortion and identity theft are nothing new. But now, the money that the victim must pay is requested in Bitcoin.

"It never ceases to amaze me the fields of applicability of cryptocurrency and Blockchain, the population mass, the social strata who can reach according to the need of each one. This only speaks to me of scalability."

DRUGS

Government authorities around the world raise the need to regulate the exchange of cryptoactives on the grounds that they facilitate the commission of financial crimes, such as money laundering, financing of terrorism and tax evasion. The transactions made in public blockchains such as Bitcoin are verifiable by any user around the world, so the argument of an alleged anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies is a misconception. Bitcoin is the most common form of payment for the sale of drugs in dark network markets such as the so-called Deep Web, and is emerging as a desirable method to transfer profits from the sale of illicit drugs on an international scale.

Bitcoin has been Supported by Drug Trafficking

A very risky point of view of certain experts, have come to suggest that drug trafficking has supported Bitcoin. If we start thinking, the idea is not so far-fetched. Knowing the incredible volumes of money that moves the industry. Knowing that drug trafficking knows no borders. The Bitcoin is "as a ring to the finger". And supposing their adoption by these organizations, the impulse contributed to the cryptocurrency could be of epic proportions. This adoption is due to the supposed anonymity that Bitcoin provides in its transactions. In addition Blockchain security: perform transactions through a secure encryption mechanism, with a public database, and with the constant action of the participants who verify the operations. That is, it is the guaranteed security of shipment; But in addition to this, Bitcoin also zffers a unique freedom, capable of evading government controls and making instant transactions across large territorial distances. But once the supposed anonymity has been demystified, this cryptocurrency has begun to be put aside by the criminals in favor of more privacy cryptoactives, such as Monero or Zcash. Recently I was able to find a publication here in Steemit, where reference was made to an application (Dapp) that offered a secure platform for the purchase of medicinal marijuana. A platform based on blockchain with its native token. This would be the commercial exchange between sellers and consumers. All with the review and storage of legal medical prescriptions and the participation of treating physicians.

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In Israel some Israelis supported by the anonymity and privacy offered by the Telegram application, built a complex system of automatic groups and bots called Telegrass which allow the purchase of Cannabis in all corners from the country. This company with more than 100,000 members announced the acceptance of Bitcoin by mid-2018. Israeli police have been able to arrest a very small number of merchants for some time, but the pace of active merchants joining these groups has grown rapidly. For the moment, law enforcement is defenseless against the advantage that the Internet and technology have given so many people in the vast illegal Cannabis market in Israel.

Final Statements

The consumption of narcotic and psychotropic substances, as well as the exercise of the oldest professions, will never be fully accepted by the members of society. While it is true that in some countries and certain cities, these activities have many activists who work daily to promote their acceptance, the road that is long to travel is very long to achieve its full acceptance. In addition, in most cases the money resulting from these activities is used to finance terrorism and wars, actions that cause great harm to the world's population and put the future of the planet at risk. All these negative aspects could tarnish the image and do a lot of damage to the future of the Blockchain and the CryptoMoney. The market is based on trust and if blockchain can not generate trust, then the future is uncertain.

What do you think of these ideas?

Do you share my thoughts? I'm willing to read to you.

Thanks for your time spent reading.