The biggest thing holding cryptocurrency back is its association with crime, and that is not going to be an easy association to shake

Cryptocurrency is slowly gaining popularity, but more than a decade after Bitcoin’s first release it still hasn’t achieved wide adoption. Part of the reason is because many people are just naturally resistant to change. Going from the fiat currency that was around before you were born to a digital currency that requires trusting some nameless faceless programmer from who knows where is daunting.

But cryptocurrency is becoming so popular that even banks and social media sites are starting to make their own. The biggest thing holding cryptocurrency back is its association with crime, and that is not going to be an easy association to shake.

Early on in the Bitcoin frontier it was used for everything from human trafficking to drugs thanks to Silk Road. Once that was shut down there were lots of cryptocurrency evangelists working to legitimise the currency, but much of the damage had already been done and undoing it would prove to be a challenge.

As more people purchased cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin there became an increased crackdown on taxation — most people figured that since it wasn’t a fiat currency and it operated outside of governments that they would not be responsible for taxes on capital gains and transactions. Unfortunately that is not the case — when you accrue capital gains on any type of property you still have to pay taxes on it, and Bitcoin is no different to the IRS and other world governments than a boat. Also, if you pay someone with cryptocurrency it is considered bartering, which is also taxable in most countries.

Also read: US$595M worth of cyber crimes might explain South Korea crypto hesitancy

When will cryptocurrency finally shake its bad reputation? As more people adopt the use of digital currencies it will become more legitimized, but that will take quite some time. Learn more about the dark side of cryptocurrency from this infographic.

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Infographic source: NullTX

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