Online Cash Bitcoin Could Challenge Governments, Banks

[Mman79]

Originally Posted by mirimir

This may be where Bitcoin, and its descendants, learn that they can't win playing by the rules. Those who make the rules don't want competition

And if they don't play by the rules, their end will come sooner rather than later. This could just be a one-off thing where someone was a bad boy or girl, got stupid and got caught. Or, it could be precisely what I spoke of earlier in the thread, that the Feds can very easily get involved and have the ability to break Bitcoin apart. In order for Bitcoin to be taken seriously by anyone outside of the "club", it has to be accepted as payment widely and for a wide variety of things. It is not going to live if confined to special online shops and holes-in-the-walls. It is definitely not going to live on if it's simply hoarded and/or used for laundering and other illegal activities, which are basically the only two things Bitcoins are being used for and, possibly, the reason Mt Gox is finding itself in this current situation.

[hawki]

"The reason for the seizure is not entirely clear. Up to a point, Bitcoins may be allowable under federal law, but "if Bitcoins facilitate too much drug-dealing or money laundering, the US government could make their production illegal," Harvard public policy lecturer Steven Strauss wrote recently on the Huffington Post. And, of course, there are federal statues making it illegal to produce a separate currency."

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013...target-bitcoin

[Mman79]

I've said the same thing before and so have others. For some reason people are determined to believe that because something is decentralized or encrypted/"untraceable", it can't be controlled or brought down. They really are technically illegal since there is a "production", and the evidence of it being used almost exclusively for drug sites, laundering, CP and other crimes, only helps the Feds reign it in.

[mirimir]

The piece of Bitcoin that's being taken down is hardly "untraceable". And if the whole thing does go down, the next embodiment won't be so vulnerable.

[Mman79]

Originally Posted by mirimir

The piece of Bitcoin that's being taken down is hardly "untraceable". And if the whole thing does go down, the next embodiment won't be so vulnerable.

Kind of my point, it's not completely untraceable Next embodiment? If (rather when at this point) Bitcoin fails, I don't see it being reborn as something else or "improved". Rather, it will fade away as an interesting note in Internet history. The more anyone tries to fix current flaws with the system, the closer it becomes to being a completely regulated, centralized currency, which defeats the entire point of this fad.

[mirimir]

Originally Posted by Mman79

The more anyone tries to fix current flaws with the system, the closer it becomes to being a completely regulated, centralized currency, which defeats the entire point of this fad.

"It" (the idea) will fork. One or more forks will go to Tor. Bitcoin already has, in part. Whether enough of it has, to survive, time will tell.

[PaulyDefran]

OMG, gold is at it's lowest point since 2009!

Uh-oh, US government officials/economic shills who perpetuate the stuff that brought down the world economy in 2008 (hint: it wasn't Bitcoin) - are against Bitcoin...who'd a thunk it?

I bought at $5...darn it, I'm still "up".

Just renewed my VPN for another year, with BTC...I wish BTC would work better.

Just funn'in ya Mman, I like your posts too, for the other side of the opinion coin.

PD

[Mman79]

Originally Posted by PaulyDefran

OMG, gold is at it's lowest point since 2009!

Uh-oh, US government officials/economic shills who perpetuate the stuff that brought down the world economy in 2008 (hint: it wasn't Bitcoin) - are against Bitcoin...who'd a thunk it?

I bought at $5...darn it, I'm still "up".

Just renewed my VPN for another year, with BTC...I wish BTC would work better.

Just funn'in ya Mman, I like your posts too, for the other side of the opinion coin.

PD

I get you, lol. We'll see how many chuckles you get a year from now.

@Mirimir: I'll have to disagree with you there. I don't think the trust is there for how it operates and the faith is there in its ability to somewhat stabilize for the idea to go on past Bitcoin. We're going to find out one way or another though.

[Mman79]

New info on the Mt. Gox issue:http://www.techhive.com/article/2038...gulations.html

"The seizure of funds of the largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, was triggered by an alleged failure of the company to comply with U.S. financial regulations, according to a federal court document. "

[PaulyDefran]

I wonder if they also secretly obtained the phone records of 100 Mt. Gox employees, and had the IRS give them "special attention"? LOL.

PD

[lotuseclat79]

EFF Will Accept Bitcoins to Support Digital Liberty.

-- Tom

[anniew]

Originally Posted by mirimir

"It" (the idea) will fork. One or more forks will go to Tor. Bitcoin already has, in part. Whether enough of it has, to survive, time will tell.

That will limit it's usefulness. Alternative currencies will need to break into the mainstream for acceptance (establish the "network effect") or forever be a fringe activity, while the various governments play whack-a-mole.

Currency, by definition, should be anonymous, but LE and central banks hate that characteristic. If they could, they'd have a "fingerprint" for every person / entity that has ever "touched" a penny, or digital bit representing one.

With Bitcoin as the guinea pig, a whole new spate of laws will get written to try to prevent any alternatives from cropping up and becoming successful.

Not what I'd like to see, but that's just how I see it.

[lotuseclat79]

Bitcoin ATMs: Handy Vending Machines or Money-Laundering Nightmares?.

-- Tom

[Mman79]

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but time and again it's being shown that laws and regulations will very likely be the end of digital currency, at least for the foreseeable future.