Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Calls Crypto Safer Than Fiat

• Last year, crimes involving cryptocurrency reached an all-time high of $14 billion.
• The Federal Reserve recently hiked the benchmark interest rate.

Based on analytic data showing a tiny fraction of illegal adoption, Binance CEO and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao believes that cryptocurrencies are safer than fiat money.

Statistics from blockchain-based analytics company Chainalysis showed that last year’s total volume of unlawful crypto transactions amounted to just 0.15 percent of that total. This is in contrast to the widely held perception among anti-crypto advocates that cryptocurrencies are utilized more often for criminal purposes than other forms of digital currency. Last year, crimes involving cryptocurrency reached an all-time high of $14 billion, a rise of 79 percent from the $7.8 billion in 2020, according to Chainalysis’ statistics. 

Rising Inflation Major Concern For Fiat

Moreover, last year, crypto transactions totaled $15.8 trillion (a 567 percent increase from 2020’s number), with 0.15 percent of those using unlawful addresses, bringing up 0.15 percent of the total. Even lower than the 0.62 percent of 2020.

There is no doubt that financial crimes related to cryptocurrency transactions are decreasing in relation to the total amount of transactions made. Despite this, the United Nations estimates that between $800 billion and $2 trillion is laundered every year, around 2–5 percent of total worldwide GDP.

Cryptocurrencies have shown to be an excellent inflation hedge, in addition to being safer against criminal activities. The benchmark interest rate was recently hiked by the Federal Reserve by half a percentage point, the most since the year 2000. A price increase of 8.5 percent in consumer products was recorded in March. Binance has spread its reach worldwide with a license to operate in many countries, France being the latest.