Tragic news has recently emerged from Norway, where a 24-year old man was stabbed and killed during a Bitcoin trade gone wrong. At one point or another in every crypto traders’ life they have thought about swapping Bitcoin for cash with another person, and this crime highlights why that is such a bad idea.
Crypto exchanges – both centralized and decentralized – remove the need to meet face to face with the person buying your Bitcoin and prevent tragedies such as this from happening. Nobody should lose their life over a Bitcoin trade, but clearly some people are willing to go to any length in order to get their hands on the world’s leading cryptocurrency.
KYC Causing People to Trade on the Streets
A lot of people don’t feel comfortable going through the know your customer (KYC) process, something that the majority of exchanges around the world now have implemented. In a bid to get around it, people are tuning to peer-to-peer (P2P) methods in order to buy cryptos. Once the user has some cryptos in hand, they can then head over to a decentralized exchange (DEX) and trade to their heart’s content.
More Ways Than Ever to Buy Bitcoin
With every passing week there seems to be a new crypto exchange launching or a fresh way for investors to get their hands-on Bitcoin and other cryptos. Whether it’s First Block Capital’s Bitcoin Mutual Fund or Fidelity’s new crypto trading desk, there is nearly an infinite amount of possibilities when it comes to buying Bitcoin. If you only have cash and want to get your hands on Bitcoin, you can always visit a Bitcoin ATM – there is simply no need to meet people in order to push through a transaction.
Storing Your Cryptos Biometrically
One solution to having your cryptos stolen – and being killed for your cryptos – is to store them biometrically. This means using a system that will read either your fingerprint, iris, or vein structure before giving access to your account. Several companies are already working on building this technology and it could well be the future in many ways. Earlier this week, IOTA announced a new system that will verify your identity using the palm of your hand, and this could quite easily be adapted to enable crypto payments at terminals in stores using only your hand – pretty handy if you forget your wallet.
Unfortunately for this young Bitcoin hodler, this technology has come too late. Nobody should ever be killed for their cryptos. If he bought his cryptos from an exchange that has KYC in place, the police can quickly track down the wallet ID that was stolen and trace the cryptos back to the killer. Our thoughts go out to the young man’s family and friends, as this truly is a tragedy that casts a dark cloud over the crypto sphere.
