At a Reddit session in which users had the chance to ask questions to the billionaire, Bill Gates was asked about his opinion on crypto-coins.

A crypto-currency is a medium of exchange that uses encryption technology to ensure the validity of transactions and the creation of new currency units. The most commonly known crypto-currency is Bitcoin.

Regarding crypto-coins, Bill Gates stated: "The main characteristic of crypto-coins is their anonymity. I do not think that's a good thing. The ability of the government to detect money laundering, tax evasion and terrorist financing is a good thing. Crypto-coins are currently used to buy Fentanyl and other drugs, so it's a technology that causes deaths in a fairly direct way. "

Gates's statements come from the fact that crypto-coins are used in the Deep Web. Deep Web is a subnet inside the internet whose contents are not indexed by standard Web search engines for a variety of reasons.

Due to this anonymity, it is widely used for illegal activities. A study by the University of Portsmouth in 2014 found that the most searched content on Tor was child pornography, followed by black markets for products like drugs, personal details and even weapons.

This is exactly why Gates is concerned about the use of crypto-coins in the deep web, where they can be used to acquire drugs, which are responsible for many deaths.

In this regard, a Reddit user participating in the session retorted that the US dollar is also used to buy all those dangerous goods, to which Gates replied that it could indeed happen, but that the anonymity of the crypto-coins makes them more likely to be used for illegal purposes.