While I agree that cryptocurrency can make the process much easier for scammers, I am wondering what exactly is the proposed solution? Something like 28% of adults in the US own cryptocurrency, and that number increases every year. A few years ago I could see path to some kind of global crackdown on crypto by governments around the world, but it now seems to me that cryptocurrency has reached terminal velocity and it's now too late for something like that to happen. Coinbase is in the S&P500, Circle is floating an IPO, and there are dozens of ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum sitting in the 401ks of average Americans.
Perhaps the solution is trying to better understand how victims are acquiring and transferring their funds? Perhaps we need to regulate centralized exchanges to better protect their customers. In the U.S. it's necessary to pass some simple online questionnaire before trading advanced financial products like options/futures. Perhaps we need something like this for cryptocurrency? I'm just throwing out ideas, because I don't know the solution. But even if you think regulating it out of existence is the ideal outcome, that is simply not going to be possible at this point.
In China, cryptocurrency is effectively banned -- mining machines are confiscated, banks are not allowed to do any transaction with crypto exchanges. Effectively you cannot turn money into crypto or the other way via normal means in China. Of course some people still find ways, and pig butchering exists in China, but it is much harder via the crypto route.
I don't know if there will ever be a global crackdown, but I know it's definitely not going to happen in the US, because, well, freedom, and the man in charge is all-in in crypto.
But at least some governments in the world see clearly that crypto does more harm than good and take action accordingly -- surprisingly China in this case.
It may not be the best solution, but it is a solution.
I believe China's cryptocurrency ban is more about fighting capital flight than scammers. There are restrictions in China on everything from foreign exchange, overseas investments, domestic property, and cross-border payments. They have two separate currencies in part to prevent money from leaving the country.
That said, China is one of the most authoritarian countries in the world. It has some of the most effective controls in place around media, speech, technology, and capital of any country. I'm not sure whether that model could be easily copied, and whether it should be copied is maybe a different conversation altogether.