Cryptocurencies are often criticized for many reasons. Some of them are valid and others are not, but in either case they can be infuriating for the people in the industry sometimes. Fury is probably the sentiment that has driven the CEO of ShapeShift, Erik Voorhees, to bash the Wall Street Journal for a recent publication that he believes contributes with the misleading narrative that cryptos are for criminals.

Wall Street Journal Bashes ShapeShift For Letting Users Launder Money

What sparked this hot reaction was an article recently published in the Wall Street Journal titled “How Dirty Money Disappears Into the Black Hole of Cryptocurrency”. The article was written by Justin Scheck and Shane Shifflett.

The article affirms that anyone who wants to launder dirty money can simply use Voorhees’ service, ShapeShift AG and convert it into cryptocurrencies in an anonymous way. Monero is also cited as a way to turn dirty money into a completely untraceable asset.

WSJ’s article is very clear on accusing ShapeShift of enabling the customers to launder money as it attacks it for letting hackers turn ransonware money into Monero without even needing to identify. It also blames ShapeShift for not being compliant with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations as he has affirmed that people should not have their identity recorded in order to catch an “occasional criminal”.

Erik Voorhees is also accused of “luring” investors from Europe, California and Colorado to invest in his business and give him $12 million USD by convincing them that he is a pragmatic businessman willing to follow federal laws. However, the article remembers that he has said that he would like national governments to be dissolved before.

The use of his name and his company has enraged the CEO and he accused the media of using poorly researched articles without caring about the implications and how “misleading” they can be. According to him, the author cherry-picked the data, as the affirms that ShapeShift has a lower money laundering incidency than the 2-5% global level of money laundering via banks.

Joseph Young Supports Voorhees

Some people like Joseph Young have supported Erick Voorhees in his fight against the media. According to him, the sum of $9 million USD that the article affirms that the company has helped to launder is nothing when compared to the $230 billion USD that the Dannish Danske Bank has laundered over eight years.

He affirms that the main reason for newspapers to create these allegations is to create a misleading narrative and that nobody talks when banks launder money. The money laundering of the Danske Bank was, in fact, higher than the whole cryptocurrency market cap.

The main argument of the crypto defenders is that the media is pushing an unfair narrative that benefits the banks and is bad for the crypto industry. Who is right in this discussion? Let us know.