Bitcoin Forum

So If using cryptocurrencies become a crime, will you be a criminal AND use it?


Note: Before you reply remember  CIA/FBI/NSA/South-park/...   ;D

If having money becomes a crime, then unfortunately there won't be enough prisons for everyone guilty of committing such a crime.

Legally, you haven't committed a crime unless and until you are convicted in a court of law. 

Any good defense lawyer will be able to explain your side of the story in a way which shows that you were operating within your legal rights, even if the judge eventually disagrees. 

if it becomes a crime which is still not a crime and is not going to be. so don't worry too much about it bro.

If you use a VPN, who really will check on you? Honestly.

By mentioning those agencies I'd say yo uare speaking only about USA , even if those intelligence agencies on the whole world but there isn't much they can do if you are out their country .
Countries cannot agree on one law that make the cryptoo currencies a crime, just impossible but most likely I will keep using it yes .

I don't think that using cryptocurrencies will ever become a crime, especially when all of the banks around the world are hiring blockchain experts and when all of the banks around the world are highly praising the blockchain technology!

So don't worry and enjoy using your cryptos, soon enough everybody will be doing it around you. Just give ut some time! :)

I don't think that cryptocurrencies will become illegal any time soon. There are many businesses who work around cryptocurrencies and this businesses pay taxes, and that is what matters. As long as the government take a piece of the cake it will leave cryptocurrencies alone.

If using Cryptocurrency will become a crime then all of us will be in jail so no worries, all people of same interests will be there and time will pass soon.

But that decision will be very rude.

Well the problem is it would scare away the masses and Bitcoin would remain a small niche of people using VPNs and TOR and we don't want that, we want BTC to shine all over the world and be worth a ton per coin.

Depends on the penalty and risk of getting caught.  

Crimes - society's rules - are very different from personal ethics.  I don't do lots of things that are legal and do a few things that are not, e.g. exceed posted speed limits.  If society's enforcement mechanism catches me then I'm prepared to pay the penalty for my crimes, but personally don't have any concerns over it.

So it will be a similar situation if having bitcoin is a crime.  After all, owning gold was illegal in the USA from ~1933 to 1974.  I'm pretty sure if I had been alive in 1932 I would have rolled the dice on holding on to my gold when FDR demanded I sell it the government for $20.67 an ounce.

Kind of a loaded question, imho I don't think cryptos will be be criminalised as it would be nearly impossible to police and could well drive it's use underground to the crims and criminal organisations (in pretty much the same way the prohibition on drugs created a multi-billion dollar global blackmarket).

In answer to the OP, I'd use it regardless :)

If breathing oxygen becomes a crime, will you be a criminal?

Whatever, stop this stream of utterly useless suggestive bullshit questions please. We've got enough FUD.

In fact it does not sound plausible. But even so law-abiding citizen, and if that happens then I will stick to the law.

Cryptos could be criminalized using the anti child porn laws.
In this case just the most incautious peoples will be caught&convicted like in some other crimes.

you can become a criminal just by taking walk in the park :)

moral: dont go to the park, stay at home xD

nah seriously, will be a joke if using cryptocurrencies become a crime, but you know, with goverments you cant never be safe even at the park :)

If the penalties were great enough, I would stop using it. However, I would move all my coins to a single brainwallet first, destroy all bitcoin related paraphernalia/web links/ect., and move on to other things. But if Bitcoin became legal again, I would be back.

Awesome answers thank u all  ;D

All I can think of is: "Cohagen! You've got what you want! Give these people air!"

If it gets this bad we will overthrow the government and make breathing legal again, no doubt about it. It is very difficult for the government to impose unreasonable restrictions and expect people to live in a free enough manner to make enough wealth that can be "reasonably" taxed.

It's worth note that cryptocurrencies (and cryptography itself) have drifeted in and out of legality in many countries over the years so one should stipulate in which country one is talking about.  I'm talking about the U.S. since I'm a citizen of that country


It seemed eminently plausible to me but...it would be damn difficult to justify since the government themselves auctioned off coins from the Silk Road haul.  It suprised and delighted me that they did so for this reason.

One of the driving forces behind my timings on taking a Bitcoin position back in 2011 was that I anticipated it becoming illegal to do so.  I mis-estimated about this.  I don't get everything right.

The positive treatment that Bitcoin received in the media and even in the judicial system (if one analyzed clearly) was a bit of a surprise to me and I forged a set of plausible explanations.  One of these was that Bitcoin is in fact a marvelously honey-pot to attract various kinds of people and put them in uncomfortable positions.  That has not (yet) happened to me, but I have been somewhat paranoid about it and have bent over backwards to keep my nose clean.

No,that who will set up that kind of legislation will be criminalist
Can you imagine.Warner Music has all rights to song Happy Birthday To You
if you post your Birthday party with that song ,thay can ask you tube to remove or thay will tell you to pay them
people are free,that is human rights

I don't think so.
If you invest your own time and money in something that has not been regulated in most countries, it can not be equated with crime.
Could I be wrong about doing something that my government does not know and has no legislation for it?
Bitcoin itself is not good or bad, nor any other currency in the world, but the purpose of using that currency may be good or bad, but that's another story.

It wouldn't be a problem for governments. I mean it's the same with copyright infringements. They won't put you in jail but allow lawyers to create costs for you. And surely it will make bitcoin be worthless and it's usecases very limited. I mean a currency that can't be accepted is a currency that will die. A currency must be able to flow.

And it would not be a big wonder if that happens. Goverments never liked it when alternate currencies arose. Actually i'm pretty surprised how cool they act with bitcoin. That was not the case in the past with alternate currencies.

This exactly. Bitcoin found some mighty friends with the organisations bitcoin started to make them obsolete. They have a big lobby.

Though one could ask if that would make bitcoin safe. The banks seems to be only interested in the blockchain technique.

If you can't win then adapt what your foe is doing...

I read before that it is already illegal in some countries
If it become illegal in my country I will continue using it as long as I can keep my anonymity

If it is made illegal in my country and becomes a crime then I will be a proud criminal for potential freedom.

On another note I would not speak about it to people I never trusted from that point and would learn to cover my tracks well for obvious reasons.

Let them create their own centralized Blockchain's. Let them teach all the people how to use wallets and send transactions. Let them build all of the infrastructure for us. And then in the end, when their centralized way shows disadvantages and this will happen, we will let users choose between real blockchain and their fake blockchain.

I already know what masses will choose.

I think that argument would not be very convincing since everyone can buy that stuff with fiat cash too. Though of course we saw stranger things happen in the US ::)

Well, let's hope the friendly environment that we have now will remain. :)

I enjoy a bit of casual law breaking but I think it would become pretty useless to me under those circumstances. I don't do drugs, launder money or deal in arms or small children. I just use it to buy the odd blu ray or summat.

The Bitcoin community will to be too big to imprison everyone. Sure they might catch a few to scare some people but they cannot stop the whole idea.

Didn't they sue a kindergarten too for singing that song? ::) The american copyright, or let's say the copyright generally, is very flawed.

Thanks god they wont succeed. The amount of filehosters and streaming sites act like hydras. They cut one head and two new grow. :D

Yes, you are right. :) I somehow pity the banks. It's like they can't win in this game. Though, because of that, i would have awaited them lobbying against bitcoin before the government. Like they always do when they don't want to have something. That this didn't happen is a bit suspicious to me.

Right now where I am it's not really legal or illegal to use Crypto-Currency and I really don't think that it will become a crime to deal in them in near future but if it does happens then obviously people who deal with them would be considered criminals and therefore I would have to stop dealing in it.

The things that are happening with it might put some restrictions on it, for instance, it has become the favorite currencies for hackers to demand ransom, for example the recent Ashley Madison thing going on and if it creates too much trouble for the law makers and if they don't see any way to control criminals from doing these things then in the end they might just make it illegal but it's not really the fault of Bitcoin, it's the people, they'll ruin anything for their personal gain. And I think there are some people (Bitcoin haters) who are doing this stuff intentionally to harm Bitcoin's reputation.

Unless using internet become a crime activity, bitcoin not be a crime. No government can declare using internet as illegal. They can shut down some sites access. But bitcoin is beyond their access. Even they declare as illegal, no one can stop people using bitcoins.

Dude wat are you asking!!!... Having cryptocurrencies. Will never be. A crime.... I dont think that this was a valid discussion point...

Too many big players with deep pockets (re expensive Lawyers)... IBM, Microsoft, Dell, VCs willing to push back on anti BTC regs.

While it may be restricted in some regions their governments will eventually come around to losing a competitive advantage.

Well if using cryptocurrency is a crime in my country, I have to move to other country that legalizing bitcoin, rather than be a criminal and be jailed because of that. Its useless to have bitcoin if you are in prison, I mean, you cant do anything with your bitcoin there. So the best way is moving to other country.

No, I wouldn't be a criminal, the supposed authorities who created such unjust laws would be the criminals.

I will never feel like a criminal just because using cryptocurrencies, unless I use it to commit a crime  :D

hmm... cryptocurrency is a digital money online.
so how can be having money online will be a crime?
does it mean that having money in my paypal,webmoney,skrill etc.
is also a crime? its non sense.
well if using bitcoin really become a crime.
it will be a disaster because a lot of people will argue about it.
this will be a world wide rally..

Come on guys the OP is asking if it does become a crime.
@OP I would still keep using it, bitcoin for life.

If its so there may be less in use but still there will be lot of criminals all around :).

As far as I understand OP suggested a situation when just using cryptocurrencies is already a crime.

As for me, I would rather stop using it, but I would still buy it at low price and wait until it becomes legal to use it.

I don't think using cryptocurrencies could ever become a crime. That would go against a lot of rights in the constitution. They may try to enforce legislation even harder (e.g. you need some kind of license to send bitcoins?), but arresting you for using bitcoin? I don't see that happening.

yeah but for direct purchase only, maybe i would limit it to purchase gamining only, or other minor stuff

i really like the way bitcoin work, aside from its actual future or current value, i can't give up to it no matter what

I will stop using it. I have a family to think of and no criminal record. I doubt if it will happen in my country, because we have a vibrant Bitcoin economy and a Bitcoin friendly government. I am not saying it will not happen, but the government is getting a lot of extra TAX from this, so they are happy.

I know the Russians and China and Australia are clamping down on Bitcoin use now, so it might happen to them. Australia even banned Chris Brown from entering their country.   ::)

If they want to view us as criminals thats fine but then its all out war vs mainstream and others.  I dont think im a criminal:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea

Maybe they are keeping us as a plan B if their blockchains don't succeed! Maybe that's why they are still not lobbying hard against us! ;) You know, just in case! :)

If using cryptocurrencies become crime all over the world then surely will go for safe option which is to quit the use of it.If it will be crime in random countries then I will go keep using cryptocurrencies without any worry.

If they make it a crime then people who are accepting it for their business will stop doing that and then it will become useless to have it actually, what's the point of having a currency which you can't spend anywhere or buy/sell? But this would have to be a global thing or else people will keep using it, a country or two banning it won't make much of a difference.

Even the miners will stop mining if this were to happen.

It's possible that countries may declare bitcoin as illegal out of desperation to control money laundering. If one day if becomes too rampant. Somehow if it does happen which most likely it won't, I will just sell off everything and convert to other assets like gold. Obviously it's not worth to take the risk considering you will either end up in jail or become a fugitive.

It is a crime if a government wants it to be a crime. In the past, you can read about that, governments often forbid alternate currencies when they felt they threaten them. They want to rule about the money. They surely don't want to give that right away. So they forbid alternate currencies pretty often.

Paypal might not be a problem because it still is pegged to fiat currencies. And the governments control those.

I would not risk going to jail or being fined high amounts of money. It simply wouldn't be worth it. Of course... i think i would not stop using bitcoin. I might go underground and use it only very secure. Though you would need to be cautious with some software. Electrum lately loses my setting to use a proxy with each restart of the wallet. And that already could reveal your identity. So i would need to be very sure about that.

But even when it would become illegal. The fines would surely not be very high. I mean many would not even know that it is illegal. I don't see a justification coming for really high fines.

A Bitcoin transaction is data. For a bitcoin transaction of mine, that data was created on computing hardware that I own using unrestricted software that implements algorithms (e.g., crypto signatures) that I am free to use.

Therefore, it is my right to create and share this data with the world.   That right is called free speech.

If there were to be some law that infringes on my right to free speech I might take action to fight that law.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience)

OP doesnt want to hear any explaining if using cryptocurrencies is a crime or not. He just asking what you will do if using cryptocurrencies is a crime. Well anyway you'll never know what government is planning for this...

In short - YES

I believe in bitcoin & everything about it. I want to be my own bank & if bitcoin does rapidly increase in value & you own some why they hell would you comply with the law ;)

I'm not sure if that would happen, at least in this country. Right now is the opposite thing; people that already are criminals use Bitcoin for their methods.

FUD... Fucking Useless Drivel?
And I agree, I am inclined to believe this is a ploy to get people to comment on a thread, so OP can get the mad bitcoinz from sig. campaigns.

What say you?

x_Molotov

I guess I will. Carrying cash may follow the same path. Governments want to control all financial activities, but there will always be wild guys who don't want to be monitored. I don't have a smartphone for that reason.

Folks on here often enjoy making comparisons with drugs. If it's illegal they'll just want it more. In Bitcoin's case, er, no. If it's illegal then it becomes utterly useless to almost everyone. Drugs carry on being fun no matter what their legal status is.

One important question in this scenario: What legal basis could be used to prohibit the possession of/transacting with bitcoins? For instance, under Executive Order 6102, possession of monetary gold was criminalized on the basis that hoarding of gold was stagnating the economy. Naturally, this argument falls flat on its face in regards to bitcoin, as bitcoin is virtually irrelevant to the global economy.

So what could it be, then? Association with drugs, illegal goods? Of course, all forms of money can be associated with such. I'd really be curious to see what legal position would be used to justify this.

To be a gangsta ?

http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/ap/nyet34711071740.grid-6x2.jpg

In the US the government is slowly taking people rights away. Conspiracy theorist argue that a geopolitical event, false flag, terrorist attack etc could happen and the sheeple will gladly give all their rights away at that point in exchange for protection. If there is a truly anonymous virtual currency in this instance, it could be made illegal.  Stranger things have happened. BTW it illegal or not, they wont be stopped.

There is no reason. It's a purely hypothetical scenario. Bittorrent must've cost content makers countless billions but it's not banned. It's nowt more than a program that's also used for completely legal reasons too.

If Bitcoin did become as relevant as gold to the global economy then it's quite possible a similar executive order could be put into action. I'll bet thousands of tons of gold didn't budge an inch nor would BTC in that scenario.

This thread remind me of replies from Snowden's first tweets. It fits here perfectly.

Oh, dumb girl @Brodalumab deleted her tweet. Anyways, the replies are still there.
She talked about Snowden broke laws. And replies:
"It also used to be a law that people could own slaves. Not a good measure of morality. Go back to Washingon."
"If a law is immoral, it's every person's duty and right to break it".

TL:DR, If law is stupid, don't obey blindly. I'm happy to be a criminal under governments eyes. Lawmakers can't stop me using Bitcoin.

Yes, if what I can get is more what I can lose.

I don't think crypto crime will be equal or worse than drug crime for example

Depend on how our goverment control bitcoin as the crime. If goverment already make the policy against bitcoin, so many people will stay away for using bitcoin. But if some people still keep holding or using bitcoin, it can be categorized as the crime that will lead you into jail

Guilty on all charges. I am sick of banks, I am sick of my mattress. Trezor makes me feel safe. 8)

I see it the same as smoking weed.  It's all in the legal gray area bitches.

Except for the south. They don't play any games in the South..

Man I been smokin weed since long before it was in a legal gray area. They wanna prohibit bitcoin, hell yeah, I'll hold them keys tight and cross any border I please with them. If they wanna label be a criminal, then mark me down as part of the resistance.

Mahhhhhh Niggggaaaa.

I love me some gr(a/e)y area. Unfortunately, where I live is attempting to out-law BTC and make it tax-able as an asset..