Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) cofounder Bill Gates has blasted cryptocurrencies for causing “direct deaths” as a result of the illicit drug industry.
“The main feature of cryptocurrencies is their anonymity. I don't think this is a good thing,” Gates said during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) discussion.
He said governments’ ability to find money laundering and tax evasion and terrorist funding is a good thing and added:
"Right now crypto currencies are used for buying fentanyl and other drugs so it is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way."
In addition, Gates suggested cryptocurrencies were also favoured by terrorists and criminals because of the difficulty in tracing the movement of funds.
The world’s second richest man said “the speculative wave around ICOs and crypto currencies is super risky for those who go long.”
According to The Daily Telegraph, the criticism contrasts with his praise of it in 2014 when he said Bitcoin is "better than currency,” and that it “is exciting because it shows how cheap (transactions) can be.”
He has also praised the technology behind it. During a BackChannel interview in 2015, he said people needed to “draw on the revolution of Bitcoin, but Bitcoin alone is not good enough.”