Crypto community figure Eric Johnson said Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari "might need a reality check" after Kashkari made comments about the use of crypto for illegal activities. 

"Kashkari might need a reality check," Eric Johnson, an influencer in the crypto community, said in a post on X. "Not sure he's been keeping up with how fast RWA are evolving."

During a Wisconsin Town Hall event, Kashkari said "very few transactions were actually happening” in crypto, adding, “they’re not paying for goods and services using crypto. It almost never happens unless people are buying drugs or other illegal activities.”

"Real assets moving on-chain isn’t some shady business," Johnson said. 

Kashkari’s assertion that crypto is primarily used for illegal purposes is inconsistent with data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Projections for 2024 estimate that cryptocurrencies account for just 0.47% of total global money laundering activities, a contrast to the widespread use of traditional banking channels by large-scale criminal operations. 

According to data from Chainalysis and the United Nations, traditional finance (TradFi) is responsible for over 99.97% of global money laundering, while cryptocurrency accounts for only 0.03%.