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Bitcoin's Climb Divides Technologists, Institutions

Israel's 'startup king' said cryptocurrencies are a gateway to 'the dark economy,' even while a legacy insurer buys $100 million in bitcoin.

Bitcoin is being used by “the dark economy,” according to Waze co-founder and Israel’s "startup king” Uri Levine, in an interview with CNBC.

“This is not about doing good and doing right,” he said. “People are using [bitcoin] to buy guns, to buy drugs, to buy people.” 

The arguments that cryptocurrencies are a better means to store wealth or a better way to facilitate digital transactions than existing methods don’t hold water, he said. “When you say something is better, then you need to say… ‘This is the problem with the other one.’” 

Meanwhile, MassMutual announced it had purchased $100 million in bitcoin for its general investment fund. Analysts called it “another milestone in the Bitcoin adoption by institutional investors.” 

Bitcoin’s current market capitalization is about $356 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

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