Bitcoin Forum

I mean how? Given it is completely decentralised.

There can be regulations for usage in merchants. Obviously not in the way Bitcoin works, but it's usage "outside" the virtual space can be hindered (I assume you're also in doubt if usage can be hindered, that's a yes for that)

No, it's impossible, just like it's impossible to regulate the Internet. Decentralized things cannot be controlled by a central unit.

BUT... there's another thing governments can do. Make these decentralized stuff not so harmful for them, devoiding them of all their rebellious message. If Bitcoin is considered just an investment tool, they have no need to regulate it. Why? because people just exchange their Bitcoins to USD and then withdraw to their bank accounts. So, banks and governments still make money from it and have no reason to ban or be against Bitcoin.

bitcoin can not be regulated but you can regulate the users who are using it(bitcoin). its technically be said as forcing the system to act in your methods even If the system is not designed to this sort of stuffs, so that means government is trying to hack bitcoin or its users. I don't care what government do I just know that no government allows any kid to earn money (I am not saying about child labour) m just saying everyone thinks kids are way less knowledgeable to earn money but that's not true, bitcoin allows everyone to earn no matter what age they are so defiantly it can not be regulated.

Taxing bitcoins is a way to regulate it. If the government forces exchanges (like Coinbase) to report how much a customer cashes out, they gain some control. They know who is using it in these cases and how much profit they are making. It can also be controlled when merchants accept bitcoins as payment.

However, governments can't control bitcoins that are in a wallet and are not used or spent and they can't currently affect the number of bitcoins created.

It is decentralized and democratic, there is no centralization. This is the essence of Bitcoin.

It's impossible to regulate bitcoin and no need for it, if it cannot be regulated, create another one and regulate it

It is not possible to regulate bitcoins as there are two types of wallets which are hot wallets and cold wallets, the users that sent bitcoin transaction out from a cold wallet can't really be tracked by the government. So the usa government are trying to get customer information from coinbase, a company which provides hot wallet for customer to store their funds and also selling bitcoins via their platform.

The Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) is seeking access to user records held by bitcoin exchange Coinbase as part of a taxpayer investigation. IRS also declared that it would regulate bitcoin and other digital currencies as kinds of property subject to tax and reporting requirements, But I guess it would not be easy for any government to fully regulate bitcoins.

It's possible to regulate it by including it in new laws, obligating people to declare their BTC, pay taxes, register activity, but if you're asking about complete regulation, it's impossible, because it's still impossible to link addresses to real people.
The easiest way to regulate it would be through exchanges and businesses. The owners would have to be completely transparent and share all the personal information of their clients, and the government would then proceed to tracking your coins from the moment you buy them to the moment of spending.
It would require tremendous resources and wouldn't be worth it, but would allow for a very high level of surveillance and regulation.

On an individual basis,  I would say it might be difficult to regulate but when it comes to using it to get basic things from stores, then its very much possible and the reason is because  businesses registered with government in which they must comply with the rules and regulations of the land and of they fail, its either government gets the information by force or force them out of business. So, in the process of buying, you might be forced to release some details about you which would in turn be forwarded to government agencies. So regulations starts from there.

Government can't control or regulate bitcoin but it might impose restrictions on the usage of it. Government might create new taxes for bitcoin such as treating it to be an asset and forcing the holders of bitcoin to pay some taxes for their holdings or they may totally declare it to be illegal but that can't stop people from becoming a part of bitcoin ecosystem.

currently look like impossible but i think if government become agreed then they can find out a solution for that. then they can regulate bitcoin even with its features. but i think it can only take place when all the people of the world start using bitcoin and it will take more than decades, because still majority of people are uneducated and it is not so easy to educate them about computer internet and after that about bitcoin.

They cannot regulate bitcoin or blockchain itself but the government will regulate the exchanges, trading platforms that uses bitcoin. I think that is the only thing they can control and regulate. They could require every exchanges and trading platforms for KYC and they can start from there to locate and tax the users.

I think it's just a matter of time, especially in the US.
I'm wondering if the could regulate in retrospect (and how it will affect the altcoin companies and users)

Bitcoin cannot be controlled. I think that the attempt to attack the bitcoin will be different. Most likely the government will attack the exchange, not to change bitcoins to dollars. This is a serious problem for users.

Regulation on integration of Bitcoin into mainstream financial services is happening and is ever-present, especially in the U.S.

Anyone looking to get into crypto with fiat has to jump through hoops, days of waiting for verification, and delays because of KYC and AML regulations forced onto the exchanges and sites that broker fiat -> bitcoin transactions. Then you pay your 5% fee as well.

It's incredibly ironic because that regulation in itself pushes people to crypto further because it exposes the injustices and issues with the traditional financial system today.

Totally wrong, Even the decentralized of bitcoin will not prevent the possibility to regulate the Bitcoin, You know that the exchange sites are a centralized system with the main purpose to connect te sell and buy demand.
It can be determined as the important aspect in the crypto. Just said that the possibility to regulate the bitcoin through controlling the exchange site itself.
Bitcoin is not a centralized coin but most of the exchanges have traded bitcoin was the centralized exchange. 

That's what you think!  Any government can regulate bitcoin AND bitcoin users.  They just haven't done it yet.  You just wait until the IRS fully realizes what crypto is all about.  Just wait until the banks discover it, then you'll see what they can regulate.  Don't think it can't happen, because it can...and I'm actually quite surprised that at least the United States hasn't written in more regulations regarding crypto.  But then again, I suspect the government had a hand in bitcoin's creation.  Don't have specifics, just suspicion.

Yes, but that have difficulties of effectively regulating so any research into the field is to be welcomed, as it’s clear there are considerable challenges to overcome before digital currencies can become an integral part of the mainstream economy.

There is definitely a way for governments to regulate the use of Bitcoin. Governments can't stop people from sending Bitcoin to each other, they can't even tax them. However, they can tax people when they buy Bitcoin from companies such as Coinbase, or when they buy something at the shops with Bitcoin. Governments can't really come after certain people, as Bitcoin is pseudo anonymous, making it impossible to track the location of the person, however you can see who they are giving Bitcoins to.


Are you alright? What do you mean it is impossible just like the internet? Bitcoin can definitely be regulated and so can the internet. Take China for example, people there are so restricted that they can't even use google. Only websites that are approved by the Chinese government, most of them are even made by the government, are available to their citizens.

Sure it can be regulate, the government could regulate when you want to convert to fiat or when you do something on exchanger and government also can supervised your transaction, it can't be fully 100 % to be regulated, but the government can make bitcoin like centralised currency

Yes that's true! my government and central bank here in Philippines is already regulate using bitcoin on exchange and trading.

It surely centralised but in case of bitcoin regulation means allowing the citizens of the country to pay their items using bitcoin or fiat.
Not only that regulation of bitcoin allows tourists to spennd on goods without needing to go to an exchange and convert to the local currency. Regulation of bitcoin also affects the price of bitcoin. The only issue is the network fees and speed

It is decentralized and democratic, there is no centralization. This is the essence of Bitcoin.

Who will control the bitcoin I guess it's all nobody can do it, Most likely the government will attack the bourse, not turn bitcoin into dollars.

Bitcoin is taxed by the government?
I just heard the first time and it does not exist
When Bitcoin rises above the threshold I believe the individual or organization that created it will probably stabilize it. They do not want Bitcoin to suddenly increase and disappear. That is also how they developed BItcoin for a long time

It's like regulating a black market; you have to regulate either the entrance or the exit, once someone gets inside there's no regulating what they do within the walls of the market. Meaning, you go after exchanges or merchants and stop them from accepting Bitcoin in exchange for goods or services, and then plan around using that as a means of "regulating" the use of Bitcoin within a country.

You can't really get after it otherwise without blocking nodes on ISPs within the country. That's something that isn't really easy to pull off.

Many people always talk about bitcoin's decentralization, but they do not really understand it, decentralization will create a whole new bitcoin world, and there, bitcoin is divided into many different levels. And this is not good, I like a bitcoin like present, freedom and strong.

You can try but if someone doesn't cooperate basically the only thing they can do is arrest them, throw them in prison or fine them. It'll probably work for most people.

A country can regulate Bitcoin through many different means. Some companies could be forced to comply with the country's KYC measures, requiring users to scan some sort of ID, or give their name and address. Another way is forcing users to publicly declare.

Nope the the crypto currency itself can't be regulated, like how BU and Segwit tried to control bitcoins for themselves but all their failed because the community doesn't want to allow it because they like how bitcoin just the way it is free from bankers, oppression, exploitation and tyranny. I think the way bitcoin can be regulated is depending on how exchangers implements their rules on bitcoin like coinbase and coins.ph. this sites are way to over regulated by rules that is not necessary for them.

Wow.... You really don't know what you talking about do you. Plus you believe in conspiracy theories. Explain more to us about how it can be regulated ?


Not really dude. The police have better things to do I assure you. Noone wants to waste their tax money on this nonesense.


Lol we already pay tax on things it's called vat. Oh and I'm talking to a friend from China on fb right now. Please stop spreading rubbish.

I think bitcoin does not need decentralization, it just needs larger block numbers to be suitable for future transactions, which is essential for the development of bitcoin. Decentralization does not help improve the situation, it just makes the situation bitcoin more troublesome. I like a bitcoin which is as liberal and powerful as the present.

Nope the the crypto currency itself can't be regulated, like how BU and Segwit tried to control bitcoins for themselves but all their failed because the community doesn't want to allow it because they like how bitcoin just the way it is free from bankers, oppression, exploitation and tyranny. I think the way bitcoin can be regulated is depending on how exchangers implements their rules on bitcoin like coinbase and coins.ph. this sites are way to over regulated by rules that is not necessary for them.

They can regular the internet, merchants, people buying and selling things online.

They could make it so anyone receiving internet traffic from an IP address that uses BTC is blocked or something. Lots of things can be done, especially since it is a public blockchain and most people are already signed up with their real names through other services. Very easy to see who people are if someone hacked coinbase they could identify tons of addresses and who they belong to then government blocks everything you do or fines you in real life!

They could try to forbid people to use Bitcoins or try to tax people who uses Bitcoins, but there will be always hackers and experts able to avoid these regulamentations. They will continue using Bitcoins and nobody can do anything about it, they can even help people who doesn't have the same skills to do the same.

Governments aren't able to change the way bitcoin is used, they aren't able to just print off 1 million bitcoins all of a sudden like they do with their national fiat currencies. As you said, bitcoin is decentralized, and the only way to eliminate/regulate bitcoin usage is if the government managed to shut down all the nodes running bitcoin software/or changed that software into their version. But there will always be people using bitcoin, it's impractical to shut/change everyone.

The way that governments can regulate it currently though is through regulating bitcoin exchanges, by implementing strict AML and KYC laws. As it deals with banks, governments can do something about this. But in the futuree, these sort of regulations won't even matter anymore as bitcoin gains mass adoption, and peoplea rea ble to accept bitcoin without going through an exchange.

Sadly yes! If you want more example how it works look at Japan, it has already regularised it and it's set a example for other countries. So basically they control the exchanges, how users buy and sell, how they have to report it. Plus all the documents that are required, and they need to file it in their tax files. Many countries are now waking up to the possibility of regulating it. Though I don't like it, but then that's the only way for them to use it.

Actions have been made to regulate Bitcoin just recently in the Philippines by their central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. They intend to regulate bitcoin entities, and require them to register as a money transfer business. If they are not registered with the central bank, then no bank will be able to transact or deal with them. This is in an effort to avoid money laundering through the use of the virtual currency.

The big question you are asking is ,how do you regulate something which is decentralized, all the government have to do is to regulate the flow of fiat currency in and out of the system and monitor all the transactions and make sure they pay their taxes,in short they will monitor your investment in fiat.

It depends on the user. For the government authorities, it will be extremely difficult to trace the Bitcoin transactions back to a particular individual. Unless he converts it to fiat and deposits it in his bank account or PayPal account, the anonymity will remain. So unless the user comes forward and reveals the details of his bitcoin holdings (who will be stupid enough to do that?), I don't believe that BTC can be regulated.

It's clear that banks and governments want to be involved in bitcoin's circulation, cause of it brings a lot of money. Today we cash out our bitcoins and pay some % to a bank, but later when bitcoin will be acceptable in the most places and banks will not be needed as mediator, they will create something new to not loos such source of income.

Japan regulated/legalized bitcoin and India is going to. I am not able to comprehend how the current situation would be anymore different than regulated because right now I am using bitcoin in India like it is regulated, taxable, strict KYC/AML and even after regulation it would be the same. Almost all major exchanges follow this same procedure. Regulation means the banking system of a country enforces some strict guildelines on bitcoin related websites, mostly exchanges and officially accepts bitcoin as legal. Even without regulation almost all governments are still unofficially imposing currency/asset related regulations on bitcoin.

As far as decentralization is concerned, I do not think regulation would have any serious impact on it. In fact, I do believe it is necessary if bitcoin needs to be recognized globally. Even after regulation, it is not like any government gets control over bitcoin. Bitcoin would still be independent as a currency in the sense that it is not issued by the banking system.

Yes, in a technical sense it is possible.  This is not an aspect of the coding or the coin, it is the medium of networking and the internet.  A government could, by the use of ridiculous amounts of resources, scan for and find common elements of Bitcoin wallets.

Bitcoin here in my country is already regulated with our government and central bank but they not adopting bitcoin they just regulated some rules in trading and marketing of bitcoin.

At least the do recognize that Bitcoin does have an active community in your country and it is the only way the government  authorities can try to regulate bitcoins by falsing some companies that are directly involved with bitcoin in complying with anti-money laundering rules by giving companies the responsibility of collecting data on their users through KYC

Definitely, it does. Though bitcoin hasn't approved yet by the government but through trading in the market makes it regulate. On the other hand, bitcoin has played a better role in the society discretely. Thus, it might be fairly existing and registered sooner. In order for the people to be more secured for their money.

That's good in your country. In my country till now government haven't made any regulations as well haven't shown any opposition towards the bitcoin usage. So this has been a freedom for all of us who are using bitcoin in our country. We might get into regulated use when the usage goes beyond certain limit.

The government obviously cannot be able to control bitcoin itself, but they're going to control the bitcoin exchanges.

Seeing that bitcoin is still in its early stages and there are a lot of centralized exchanges around generating massive volume on a daily basis, to control the regulations surrounding bitcoin exchanges is basically controlling half of what bitcoin is.

However, it is impossible to ban bitcoin altogether, if governments are looknig to do that because the system is decentralized, and they can't just shut down one single server to get rid of bitcoin. Even if they shut down all the exchanges, the trading will just go p2p instead of on centralized platforms.

In the U.S., there has been a lot of regulatory discussion about virtual currencies. A handful of states have created their own way to create policy surrounding bitcoin, but each state has a different way of handling regulation.

In Europe, the central bank has proposed virtual currency legislation to the European Council and Parliament. Authorities detail the main focus is to curb funding terrorism and tax evasion within the region. The European Central Bank (ECB) also is having a hard time figuring out regulation and the classification of bitcoin.

The ECB and other regional banks were told by the European Banking Authority in 2014 not to get involved with virtual currencies until authorities figured out regulatory standards.

Perhaps MEPs do not understand the mechanism crypto currency. They will fail to regulate these currencies and they have only two options. Or they recognize crypto currency and take from their turnover tax, or they continue to continue to pretend they don't exist and just lose money from taxes.

here no way to possibility  of regulate the bitcoins,why because is now a days many peoples using this bitcoins and doing business with bitcoins.it is very popular and very exciting to the users,and this is safe and secure also.  ;D

They want to figure out how they are going to regulate it in such a way that their own coins will have a future and all other Crypto currencies

will have no scope. If they act too early, they might lose the opportunity to use Blockchain technology to replace cash. Most of these governments

wants to get rid of cash and Blockchain technology gives them that opportunity, but with their own coins.  ::)

  umm , may be in your country government does not pay much  attention toward bitcoin  but here in my country and in many more large countries bitcoin is being high and high for its prices and must have some proper setup and accounts for its security there are many bitcoin wallets, are there still needs to work on bitcoin .

The government's can't really interfere with the bitcoins systems, what they can do is to make merchant's that's those accepting bitcoins as a method of payment follow rules so that they can better monitor how it goes and of that's all they can do then it will be good for all parties involved.

In my opinion, it's possible to regulate Bitcoin but its chance is low because it's hard for all the governments to accept Bitcoin in their countries but it's still a lot of countries that accept Bitcoin all over the world.

Because bitcoin is still not well known, ignore other garbage posts, the main reason is here

I don't know why it should be regulated? Is it necessary to regulate Bitcoin? I don't think that, people of bitcoin have to be safe and secured that's why they are using Bitcoin, that reason is one of the difference between Bitcoin and conventional money, so from my point of view, it is not mandatory to regulate Bitcoin...

So Bitcoin's being decentralised will not make too much affects to Bitcoin users but it will enable us to use Bitcoin safely and not scaring about being arested or something like that B-)

To think it is decentralized you cannot actually regulate it by your own in terms of bitcoin alone but if you use as merchant then you can manage or regulate it by your own to the sender of the coin..  It is made in a design to be a decentralize and you need to change the fundamentals of the algo to make it centralize.  I think we are already fed up with centralize banking system and now is the time to enjoy freedom and decentralization through Bitcoins.

It must be admitted that in fact marketcap bitcoin nearly $50 billion, this is wonderful, even some foreign exchange the country no more than $50 billion. It's time to do regulation bitcoin.

decentralization has nothing to do with the impossibility of regulating it, because in japan they are regulating it despite the nature of bitcoin

you can track every transaction with the blockchain more so if you are going to use your bitcoin to buy something on any phisical shop that accept it

these shop will report anything to their "IRS", so everything is transparent and regulated

I think it is not possible to regulate bitcoins because it is fully decentralized and regulating bitcoin will be against for that features (Decentralization) and a lot of people will protest about it if ever it happens. In a country, if they want to regulate bitcoin then they can't do it directly to bitcoin and the only thing that they can do is, make a law or statement that their bitcoin countrymen users will obey.

They currently have gone as far as they are going to go, they regulate the FIAT to crypto and vice versa sites and points and that makes them feel pretty good.  Their biggest public "concerns" were for money laundering and controlling the exchanges makes them appear in control, although there are plenty of uncontrolled places where the FIAT and crypto exchanges happen without any KYC or other regs.
 
 

This would really need a lot of help from the ISP's and local departments and would cost a huge amount of money to rope off around 30% of the users, maybe more.  The idea would not be to catch the user's per se, but to make using Bitcoin so hard that no one would bother trying.
Can they regulate it? Sure, and they can stop crime completely by assigning a single law enforcement officer to every citizen.  Will they go beyond the current regulations?  Doubtful.
 

I don't think you can regulate something that is decentralized. That's they whole point of decentralization. Drugs are regulated but still skio through the cracks onto the "black market" you can't stop people from doing what they want it doesn't work. Some regulation is arguably needed but if they make regulations too tight there will be resistance.

Regulate the bitcoins is impossible,why because now a days bit coin is popular and valuable money. if you want to use bitcoin no need to depend upon the any bank,we can do  transactions by internet only.it is very comfortable to users.

Regulation of the decentralized currency, I found it not good at least something should be free from government. ;) :D

Governments have the ability to regulate anything, some of you on the forum may think we'll the government cant stop the tech and the miners from doing their jobs. Well that's not the way government would attempt to hurt us, they'd be doing scummy thing such as making buying harder, more regulations on the businesses that conduct the buying and selling (exchanges) which would fuck them up very hard and could cause these companies to just leave the entire crypto world. It's tough to think about a government doing that, and I do understand that it is-- but if the government is being faced with losing a lot of it's power they'g going to use some insane methods to be able to hold onto it. So yes, it is.

Regulating bitcoins in a direct way is nearly impossible and the only way to do this would be through third parties that aid bitcoin transactions like an exchange or trading platform which are likely to have a brick and mortar office.

---

I agree, right now it is not feasible for governments to see bitcoin as an accessory to crime or any of the bad vices, and it would be a huge cost to have bitcoin under their leash which is never happening

Looking at the system I think doing a thorough regulation will definitely have trouble because bitcoin is made anonymously so the system in bitcoin actually states that we freely use bitcoin. So it will be difficult to manage bitcoin, especially in terms of ownership of owned assets.

It is kinda possible but cannot be 100% effective. For example, it is easier and cheaper to get btc from some of the exchange sites and merchant's in my country but you can participate unless you snap holding your passport ad a verification process. I am sure this are few ways the government may be trying to use to ensure there is adherence to law and order even when using bitcoin. So with that kinda development? Ut can surely be

I think it is very difficult, this is because the physical, immaterial bitcoin stock could not grow and if missing then could not be found. It took time and socialization to make bitcoin get regulation.

Different countries have different takes on regulating crypto currencies, that is why some countries forbid the use of such currencies altogether. But as time progresses and the need for digital currencies arises, these governments will lead to a decision to make regulations and set policies that would make the use of crypto currencies more acceptable but within the rules set by the authorities.

As it turned out, governments still have the ability to partially control bitcoin during transactions, given that the transaction log is publicly available. By doing various operations with bitcoin, we give the government the opportunity to track its amount, to be able to analyze who and whom the bitcoins are transferring, not knowing for sure the actual buyer and seller. However, if such information is systematized, especially if governments of different countries interact in this matter, it is quite possible to identify participants in transactions. It is impossible to just get any information about bitcoins that are in real estate in digital wallets.

From what I heard and what I read in the latest developments regarding Bitcoin in South Korea they have established Exchanges in which are regulated by the government, which is somehow close on controlling Bitcoin. So the government can override the whole operation of the exchange. But if you look it in a broad perspective some online exchange are doing it now in fact most of the people here are not recommending in keeping your money in any kind of exchange especially August 1 is only 2 days away.

governments are not able to provide directly regulations into btc but they do it on exchanges where you trade the btc and other alts in my opinion and whenever you cash out you pay taxes as well.

It is yet unclear or uncertain how bitcoin can be regulated, especially with the transactions which they represent a difficult part to control, so the balanced regulation of bitcoin might be achieved partially and it is by the regulation of the financal exchanges between the user and the government but first bitcoin has to be accepted as legal currency or a legal payment method and that would be possible and also smart because if someone wants to exchange bitcoin into his bank account he will be obliged to pay taxes, so the government will be able to control and put bitcoin under a law and get fees as well.

This.

The only way to evade this is if we could spend bitcoin directly without using exchanges. Sadly we have been going backwards on this with Steam, Stripe, Microsoft and Dell all removing the option to pay with bitcoin. That means that to spend you need the exchanges to convert to fiat. And fiat can be regulated.

they do not need to arrange it. Why? because people just redeem their Bitcoin to USD and then withdraw into their bank account.

Bitcoin is decentralized cryptocurrency, it allows near-instantaneous transfers and it is without a middle man or regulatory body. There can no any Government can control bitcoin. But it can only be regulate in an actual procedure, like for Example: Australia. Australia is regulating financial services involving virtual currency. The digital currency exchanges in Australia will be subjected to registration and regulation, once the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act of 2006 take effect. This is how possible that bitcoin could be regulated.