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Demand for Bitcoin will Increase in a Global Recession

Bitcoin - The Currency of the Internet
Demand for Bitcoin will Increase in a Global Recession

Bitcoin is fueled by gamblers and drug businesses. Gambling and drugs in general are $500B+ and $300B+ annual revenue markets.

When people lose their jobs, the demand for escaping reality with get-rich-quick fantasies will increase.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501160/

The author finds that lottery sales are sensitive to the state unemployment rate, increasing by about 0.17% for each 1% increase in that rate.The only gambling sector that appears to be recession proof is lottery consumption. This series is characterized by a vast and solid growth that appears to be independent of the business cycle and of temporary shocks to income.

Casino expenditures appear to have significant positive growth during both expansion and recession.

When people lose their jobs, more people will turn to using and dealing drugs.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395917300877

We synthesized 28 studies published between 1990 and 2015. Most evidence (17 studies) was found for the counter-cyclical mechanism that recessions and unemployment increase psychological distress, which increases drug use. Mainly supportive evidence for this mechanism was found in several high quality studies, in different contexts, and in a diverse number of countries and samples. In contrast, decreased income did not seem to decrease drug use (10 studies).

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-banks-saved-un-cfief-claims

Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year.

He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.

According to the United Nations World Drug Report, adoption of Bitcoin for buying drugs has grown every year.

https://www.unodc.org/wdr2018/

Proportion of surveyed Global drug users who purchased drugs via the darknet:

2014: 4.7%

2015: 5.9%

2016: 7.6%

2017: 7.9%

2018: 9.3%

This March 2018 Bromium research report corroborates the growing adoption of crypto:

https://www.bromium.com/press-release/up-to-200-billion-in-illegal-cybercrime-profits-is-laundered-each-year-comprehensive-research-study-reveals/

According to the report, cybercriminal proceeds make up an estimated 8-10 percent of total illegal profits laundered globally; amounting to an estimated $80-$200 billion each year.

Virtual currencies have become the primary tool used by cybercriminals for money laundering

This Elliptic research report states that more than 50% of DNM users are still sending BTC directly to the markets without mixing:

https://info.elliptic.co/whitepaper-fdd-bitcoin-laundering

From the perspective of businesses that are worried about seizures, Bitcoin is a lower-risk asset than cash or gold (if the BTC is stored properly).

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https://www.coindebate.com/2018/12/demand-for-bitcoin-will-increase-in.html