You might think that Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are just clever new types of money used to buy dodgy products and make obscene profits.
But you’d be wrong, because Microsoft founder Bill Gates believes they can be deadly.
In a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, the billionaire said cryptocurrencies are unique because they have caused deaths through allowing people to buy lethal narcotics.
He said: ‘The main feature of crypto currencies is their anonymity. I don’t think this is a good thing.
‘The Governments ability to find money laundering and tax evasion and terrorist funding is a good thing.
‘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.’
He also said the ‘speculative wave’ around digital dosh is ‘super risky’.
Earlier this week, the European Union threatened to regulate cryptocurrencies and clamp down on the trading of virtual coins.
Over the last year, some crypto investors have made fortunes from the wildly fluctuating price of Bitcoin or other forms of digital dosh, while other have endured heavy losses.
The price of Bitcoin is currently sitting at just under $10,600 after a rollercoaster year which has seen its value plunge by up to 70% from a high of almost $20,000 in December last year.
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