I thought the #1 use case for crypto was ransomware, followed by shitcoin rug-pulls, and the ability to commit theft without recourse.

Sending money to Iran is just a minor edge case.

It's also the #1 use case for $100 US dollar bills. Most US $100 bills, in fact, are not even in the US.[a][b]

US $100 bills are the currency of choice for small-time crooks and evildoers around the world.

They are also the currency of choice for big-time crooks and evildoers. Briefcases of US $100 bills have long been used for illicit payments, as depicted in numerous books and movies.

Just because crooks and evildoers use US $100 bills doesn't mean they are not useful and valuable to honest people too.

What Binance did was wrong, no doubt, but Binance ≠ crypto.

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[a] https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2022/oct/innocent-...

[b] https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/04/12/177051690/most...

It's clearly not untrackable. It's never been untrackable. That's how they know it went to Iran.

Unblockable yes, untrackable no. Also portable is the main ability of crypto.

The reason that this could be found out is because every transaction is recorded so it can be linked back through the chain once it hits another exchange that is KYC'd.

If I have a gold watch and I wear it through the airport go to turkey melt it down and give it to an iranian, then buy a fake watch and return home noone will every know that this transaction took place.

This would be 100% impossible to track in any reasonable manner. If I went to an exchange transfered bitcoin to a person then they spent this bitcoin in a way that linked it to their identity this would provide a full audit trail that would link me to that person. Also this audit trail could NEVER be removed or altered.

There are ways to use bitcoin in an untracable manner just like gold, you can have a cold wallet and transfer the keys to someone else. The cold wallet password could be only memorized and thus have no physical trace and no transaction record could take place whatsoever, but this is the OPPOSITE of what an exchange does.

Also cash and bank systems are not as resistant, they can fail, be hacked, be altered, people can use shell companies and fake identities.

Some cryptos like monero try and hide the transaction path but even this crypto has some vulnerabilities making linking it to people possible in some cases.

Could someone explain to me where the myth of "crypto = untrackable" comes from, and why it's still being perpetuated?

Storing a record of every single transaction on a publicly accessible blockchain sounds trackable by design

It’s 100% trackable. It’s anonymous but there are many datapoints that could be used to deanonymize if the transaction parties are not extremely careful

The #1 use case for crypto is that it's anonymous like cash. And yes, this enables people to use it for crime... just like they use cash. The unavoidable cost of freedom has always been that some people will misuse it. Personally, I would rather have freedom even if it gets misused than not have freedom even if it means crime is over.

> Isn't this like the #1 use case for crypto?

What is even the point of crypto if you can't commit crimes with it?

What's funny is that Bitcoin/Ethereum are now the most tracked ledgers on the planet. If I wanted to do some shady value exchange it would be my last choice.

> Everyone wants an untrackable unblockable currency

What are you talking about? Crypto is defined by its trackability (immutable, permission-less, verifiable ledger of every transaction in history). Please refrain from commenting on things you're unfamiliar with.

Money laundering is only good when our people are doing it.

Can't anyone basically sanction entire wallets, and mark them, and make some legislation that any transaction involving coins originating from those wallets be rejected by all payment processors and exchanges in regulated markets?

I mean, they obviously can, but probably they have elected not to do so. But if crypto becomes a tool in the hands of enemy nation states, such regulation can't be soo far off.

Though that would create a secondary market for these 'tainted' coins, and would probably have far-reaching consequences into the crypto ecosystem.

It seems to me that the people who want the unblockable currency out of government control are not the same people who want to block money transfers to countries like Iran.

you mean its not used for the Paul brothers latest meme coin rug pulls?

I'd argue the #1 use case is ransomware and scamming, but this has to be a close second. Honestly the journey from "The blockchain is the future, everyone must see that" to where we are now really feels like the one we're taking with 'AI'.

In the end it will still exist, but the use case is going to be so much less inspiring than people want to believe, outside of medical and fundamental research at least.

Not just the #1 use case, the only use case. Real money is better in every scenario other than crime.