Bitcoin Forum

I was reading an article on Fortune.com and stumbled upon a quote...


Source: Yes, regulation is coming to bitcoin (http://fortune.com/2015/03/24/bitcoin-regulated-exchanges-winklevoss-coinbase/)

Would like to know the general community opinion about it...

i think it will be much hard to regulation the bitcoin because it demands much big network to regularized the bitcoin transaction.
Bitcoin means to way of freedom without any obligation to use and without any limit.

Does bitcoin itself need regulation? Questionable.
Regulated exchanges by all means until we see decentralised exchanges becoming more popular.

Well, regulation isn't coming to bitcoin, businesses like exchanges now have proper regulation, like they should, they didn't invent a new thing, currency exchanges exist for long time and they have regulation to comply with, there's no good reason bitcoin exchanges to be exempt from it.

And I think it's just the beginning... And if regulations are fundamentally very harsh - bitcoin will not comply... Because it is not just about fees... It's about the idea... Of freedom... And about outgrowing the current system making it obsolete...

anon it's also coming to bitcoin, and we know those two things can't live together

100% regulation for bitcoin, cannot be achieved, and it shouldn't...

We do not know what the Bitcoin Foundation will be asked to do to the code (the BF pays the dev(s)), if the devs will "obey", and/or if the mining pools will be willing/able to fight against radical code changes.

I doubt this could even be possible - if the regulations come to the point where they will enforce the code, then there will have to be a radical change, I don't know - maybe some kind of hard-fork change, that we will all jump on because of faith or smth, but bitcoin CANNOT be allowed to be enslaved... Its natural purpose is to get rid of all centralized power and if it fails to deliver that - it has to shift to be able to...

they want try
they will fail
always

because it's not cash
because it's not centralised

because it's invented by human
not politics or business






Anonymous.





 ;D






http://img11.hostingpics.net/pics/546632Image2.jpg

Where Bitcoin and the fiat world touch there will always be regulation, such as an exchange.

I don't think the bitcoin core protocol code will be controlled by the govs otherwise it loses the meaning of decentralization. No ppl will allow this happen. But  I don't disagree with the idea of the regulation of currency exchanges, cryptocurrency startups, which is regulating the ppl, who are dealing with cryptocurrency, not the bitcoin inherent protocol.   

If major changes in the code wouldn't be accepted, the community won't jump on it and show the middlefinger.Simple is that. People wouldn't update and stay on the old fork.

The problem with decentralized exchanges is.. how are you supossed to do day trading? It doesnt work since its only p2p exchanges, afaik.
For classic centralized ones yes, we need regulation.

Regulation can only happen at bottlenecks such as exchanges. But bitcoin itself is not possible to effectively 'regulate'.
It's impossible to effectively ban it for example.

Exactly. There is no place on earth where one could run a un-regulated exchange. It has to happen.
The regulation will be different for each country.
There was a site bitlegal.net that displayed the legal status of Bitcoin in each country, but it looks like it has been removed/deleted.

The Reserve Bank of Australia does not believe that bitcoin regulation is worth the cost as it may require international cooperation.  Regulation cost money that's the bottom line.

Regulation costs money, but it could also potentially bring in money for the government. from taxes and other things.
They would also want to regulate it to try and prevent money laundering, but obviously, they would fail. If banning cryptocurrencies also counts as "regulation", then it could also occur.

I think there will be certain countries like Germany that will regulate it extremely efficiently and then most of the other countries throughout the world will have no clue what to do with it, even with Andreas Antonopoulos explaining things to them their laws will be as vague as ever, adding to that, it will be interesting to see if any countries try to ban Bitcoin outright because I want to see whether they can stop it from being traded on the black market at all.

It's interesting to see how some governments decide to not regulate it, and others jump to outright forbid it. I think there will be more regulation in the future, and that is something good. It gives bitcoin legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

Let's think about this rationally.


For regulation to come to Bitcoin, miners would need to accept any new software with altered code... If they don't accept, then I guess there's no regulation (which is most likely)

Alternatively individual Bitcoin services could be pressured, like what's happening to coinbase. Similar like Silk Road, if other services choose not to be regulatated, they could simply go underground. If you've already created the website scripts, any Bitcoin service could switch to a new domain within minutes.

So like what's happening here in the UK, since government wants to accept and tax Bitcoin businesses, I think they would all be forced to be regulated, which comes with a portfolio of advantages or face criminal charges... Unless they go underground as previously stated.

Bitcoin is already regulated. There is no other form of money that follows such strict rules as Bitcoin.

Except other than fiat, Bitcoin is regulated transparently, for and by everyone, through cryptography. The elite authorities that currently regulate old fashioned money will need a while to grasp this new paradigm.

Through cryptography and democracy. If the devs push out unreasonable updates, we, as the community and as the users, can decide what features we want and what we don't want.

However, the point that you made is very true; Bitcoin is regulated by its users. Despite that, a government would still attempt to regulate it, such as by banning it, or making all users report their bitcoin transactions, etc.

I can only wish we do have some regulation related to consumer protection. This is the weakest BTC point ATM. However, I do not see that being implemented for at least a year or so.

Regulation is a very broad principle, when discussing, you could bring your own definition of it and go from there. Regulation will be implemented in different ways for different countries and governments. There is no single way to enforce regulation. The question would be, what type of regulation could regulate the blockchain? What are the cons and pros.

As far as i know they will not be able to regulate the blockchain or Bitcoin all they will be able to do is regulate centralized services like exchanges and that may actually be a blessing for some because banks will start to accept the power of it at that point.

There will of course be those that are against that as myself but that is where decentralized markets and exchanges will be used which will by pass that. Whatever they try we will always have a means to bypass it, unless of course they take out the internet..

I voted YES but it will only be an attempt.

The best the governments can try is to tax the bitcoins and enforce it. Or even ban the use of bitcoin for it undermines the state and deem everyone who uses bitcoin a criminal. It is bad form of regulation, only showing the fear of governments to lose control, the only reason governments will fear it is because the fear is transfered by the bankers who thought they had the power over the government who thought they had the power over the masses. The tables are turning, slowly, but turning..

The central banks can wait for the bitcoin technology to mature. Then they will regulate it and bring in more taxes and other things. At present, it is not worth the effort and bitcoin might die. It is not their responsibility to help bitcoin technology.

They're actually just missing out on the potential of Bitcoin or hurt themselves if they ban it. We do have countries that have done this, and it hasn't prevented any "illegal activities" in the world.
Regulation is coming, but Bitcoin is something very new. Regulating it isn't a simple task.

Well I think this discussion covers the meta-discussion about what regulation is, already - it's part of the discussion to outline what people consider to be regulation and what kind of regulation they expect.

Why does regulation have to do with central banks? It's the governments that do the regulating and collecting the taxes. I don't think you know what you're talking about because you contradict yourself here.

I think it depends on who is in charge of doing the regulation. The European Central Bank, for example, just flooded (keeps on, actually) the market with freshly minted/printed Euro. This is also a type of regulation - trying to counteract certain economic movements.

Bitcoin will die if it is regulated

Why would you think that?  If the regulation happens on a political level (and not the core protocol), the basic principles of Bitcoin will stay the same. It will only create legal guidelines and maybe help getting peoples' trust.

Such thinking is actually wrong. Bitcoin can't have a (legal) connection to fiat if unregulated (on a exchange). That's one of those situations where we actually need it.
We need more businesses using/paying in Bitcoin. That's also something that regulation is going to help with.

Yes, I agree. Did I somehow come across as if I didn't think that regulation will help Bitcoin's adoption ??? Anyways... Centralized exchanges aren't going away anytime soon, so we need to make them better, regulated, and insured.

And who gets to make the regulations?

IMHO some kind of voluntary certification process for exchanges should be encouraged. Most people would prefer to deal with an exchange that is certified. Those who want to take the risk and deal with shoddy, uncertified exchanges could choose to do so as well but I'd imagine this wouldn't be popular. Different certifying organizations could exist with different interpretations of what an exchange should and shouldn't do. That way, you can pick the one that most agrees with your viewpoint and see what exchanges that they have certified.

EDIT: I'm not 100% sure but I think the US higher educational system works in a similar way. There are many colleges and universities out there but only degrees from those that are accredited by a few major organizations are really worth anything.

usually is the government that regulate something, and regulation mean you lose all anon features, not a big deal for many(as we leave in facebook era) but other is really important

also in many country bitcoin is already regulated, because they have applied taxation to it

Well the respective countries make the rules and laws. The citizens of a country and the companies who are dealing in Bitcoin then have to abide by those laws. It's effectively like dealing with FIAT money today!

Most points of conversion and exchange with traditional monetary systems are already regulated.

The real questions are:

Will the Bitcoin core developers allow governments to force them change the code to adhere to any new regulations that become law?

Will 51% of the miners use - or allow the governments to force them to use - the new regulated Bitcoin code that the core developers release?

Will people offering products and services in exchange for bitcoins adhere to any regulatory changes?

For instance, if the core developers dont change the code or 51% of miners (lets say, the Chinese) refuse to upgrade the network to the new regulated code, the only alternative would be to not only place KYC/ALM (and any new regs) on money services businesses, but also onto everyone who transmits or receives bitcoins. Even little Johnny who gets a Bitcoin for gradualtion and/or the grandparents who sent it to him. Or the guy selling or buying a stereo system on craigslist for Bitcoin.

It will be interesting to see how this all develops with a blockchain with full transaction transparency.

Will it be like the DEA going after evey kid with a doobie, the RIAA going after 12 year old downloaders of MP3 music, a hands off approach , or somewhere in between?

The most interesting part will be how the enforcement will work. Can you imagine the resources and manpower they would need to track down every party and wallet for every transaction?

Then there is the issue of working across national borders. Will they outlaw sending or receiving Bitcoin to/from nations that don't 'play ball', have a treaty, or agreement?

Well obviously it is subject to regulation now. The question is what other laws will banking lobbyists think up. They spend lots of money to shape the law, how much have you spent? There is your answer.

The funny thing is that, any country specific law can not stop bitcoin. It requires all countries to agree upon this. But, that is NOT going to happen. USA will never handshake with Russia/China. India will never handshake with Pakistan. Israel will never handshake with Palestine. So Bitcoin will remain :)

History tells us that the government will create this thing called "bit permit".  In order to use bitcoin, you will be required to obtain a "bit permit".  Then the government will reject all applications for the "bit permit".   Bitcoin users, all without "bit permits", will be fined and maligned as often as possible, houses and cars will be seized, and those who put up a fight will be thrown in jail for decades.  This is what happened in the U.S. with regard to marijuana and medical marijuana permits.

Regulating the bitcoin service is good for the adoption as we can be sure the "banks" we store the coins cannot steal from us.

That is a good point and a ray of light. If they fear missing out on the money because of businesses going elsewhere, countries may temper their impulse to regulate BTC to death.

No, but it may seriously hinder the development of that technology in said country. And if the USA or China decide to outright ban Bitcoin and using it, well, most people will stop.

For now, no.  Regulation is only coming to the exchange operators and entities operating as a MSB.

The authorities still don't fully understand Bitcoin yet.  Currency?  Commodity?  Property?  Payment Portal?  We know what it is, but they're waiting out this period of growth to see how it matches in their tick box.

There are hardly 2-3 million bitcoiners across the globe and the market cap is below 4 Billion USD. Authorities do not need to worry now. U can grow and acquire your fuel to fight for coming days while they are sleeping peacefully or fighting over something unimportant. ;)

Well, no one exactly knows what it is, because you simply can't seem to put a definite label on it, actually. It possesses the capabilities and properties of usually very different things!

regulation is already running on few states(Usa) and is coming to other(see UK), regulating something mean to tax it

australia for example classified it as a property, USA did it too if i'm not mistaken

so some country did regulated it already, other are probably waiting to see how the situation will evolve, before make their move