Seth Hertlein from the Stellar Development Foundation spoke at a Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum in Panama about blockchain, illicit finance, and financial inclusion. He presented data showing cryptocurrency crime is minimal (0.34% of transactions) and argued policymakers should focus on blockchain's benefits for the unbanked rather than overreacting to crime risks.
At the 18th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum in Panama City, Seth Hertlein, SDF Head of Policy and Government Relations, participated in a panel discussion on illicit finance and blockchain. He clarified that lumens serve primarily as network security and payment efficiency tools on Stellar, with most value transfers being fiat-to-fiat stablecoin exchanges. Hertlein presented Chainalysis data showing only 0.34% of cryptocurrency transactions involve criminality, far lower than traditional finance's 2-5% illicit activity rate. He argued the industry must better communicate blockchain's real-world utility for financial inclusion rather than defensively comparing crime rates. The discussion also covered transparency versus privacy trade-offs, drawing parallels to HTTP-to-HTTPS encryption adoption, and explored how countries like El Salvador and Panama are exploring blockchain solutions to serve unbanked populations through remittances and financial access.
