Pandora papers show fiat is still the best option for tax evasion

Offshore leaks of 2013, Panama Papers of 2016, Paradise Papers of 2017, and now Pandora Papers of 2021, the biggest leak to date on offshore activity of the world’s elite.

It looks like the only way to bust some (only some!) of the illegal activity of the world’s rich and powerful is through a massive journalist exploit. This is not a system that can work, is it?

As long as money and data circulate in centralized siloes – i.e. banks and other financial intermediaries – it will always be possible to hide them. The more money to hide, the easier it is.

You know what is impossible to hide ? A Bitcoin transaction. It is pseudonymous of course, but if law enforcement is ready to deploy the necessary means, it is possible to follow the money. That is why the percentage of illicit activity on Bitcoin network is estimated at less than 0.5%.

Quoting the former CIA director Michael Morell: “there was probably less illicit activity in the Bitcoin ecosystem than there is in the traditional banking”.

So maybe it’s about time to change the popular narrative about crypto criminals and acknowledge that the best way to launder money is with good old fiat ?