Bitcoin Forum

Hello guys;

It's my first contribution here. I am a PhD candidate in Political Science and International relations, I really like writing about the relation between Cryptocurrencies and politics.

in my country, cryptocurrency trading, and mining is prohibited. the reason why the government prohibited cryptocurrencies is because Blockchain technology is really transparent, and peer-to-peer, so if banks in my country and other countries where there is a lack of transparency, democracy, decide to adopt crypto, governments will do all their best to avoid adopting blockchain technology.

I have a project to prepare a study which focus on the relation between lack of democracy, and prohibiting bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general, but if I do such study, I will be faced by many problems, the first of these problems is that there is some countries that suffers from lack of democracy, but they are adopting crypto, like venezuela, and Russia. the reason behind that, I think, is that they are trying to avoid american and western sanctions, and secondly, they are trying to kill Dollar as the main currency in the World, in the long term of course, because if Russia will be for example the capital of cryptocurrencies in the future, and Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency will replace USD, Russia will be the dominant power in the world, because it will simply control cryptocurrencies.

Thatswhy, when I do some translations, of ICO's especially, I have found that 70 to 80 % of projects and teams are from Russia, and I think that the Russian governement even if it appears that it's not supporting crypto, I think Russia is in fact the first supporter of cryptocurrencies in the world.

So, I believe that of course crypto will change the world, but which country (s) wil be the capital of crypto? I think it's Russia.

Thank you

there's some complexity to the issue. in venezuela, 2017 was a year where the government endlessly cracked down on miners. miners were imprisoned for various crimes (https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/venezuelas-and-love-affair-cryptocurrency-mining-its-complicated/) like "the legitimacy of capital, illicit enrichment, computer crimes, financing of terrorism, exchange fraud and damage to the national electricity system." they even raided small household miners.

in russia, the position of the state regarding bitcoin seems to change all the time. a few years ago, the prosecutor-general said it was completely illegal since it was a "money substitute." there's been no official legislation, and like china, officials have waffled between positive and negative statements. we'll see what the law looks like when it's eventually passed.

i think the more authoritarian governments initially react with an iron fist. over time, they realize how little control they have, and perhaps that cryptocurrency offers real value---particularly those countries that suffer from USA sanctions, as you pointed out.

 ;D The thing is dicey. The country that will become the capital of crypto won't really be determined by the country that has the highest usage. I see it being politically determined because cryptocurrency will become a very big business space and the world powers will most likely influence it.

Where are you from? Because currently blockchain technologies are getting popular and countries start to implement blockchain technologies and there are a lot of example of this.
If countries are against Bitcoin and crypto, it's logical. Now even Australia is going to ban encryption but being against blockchain technologies is saying no to good future/technologies.

Hello guys, thank you for your contributions. well, I am from North Africa, Crypto, Blockchain, mining, trading are all banned and prohibited, because they are afraid of transparency, but I think after few years they will allow the use of crypto again, because crypto is decentralized, and people enthusiasts in crypto will never wait for their governments to ban or allow, they will use crypto despite governments decisions.

Thanks again guys

Well, I do hope that your country will soon be part of this cryptocurrency industry and your government will realize the importance of cryptocurrency either in economical, local community and in business industries. We are here in this decentralized invironment so I think we can still be part even though there are restrictions as there are a lot of ways but that is so complicated if they implement a total ban on Bitcoin or crypto as a whole. But if they still hate crypto why suffer from restrictions if we are able to move to crypto friendly countries? ;D

daoudhichem, your country prohibits cryptocurrency trading and mining because its not legal tender money. Its not a currency that was decreed by law to be the only one used by its citizens. If you were your country's president would you allow it to be used freely, costing of your own's country's financial system?

Russia has been slow to regulate it maybe because they know it would be a waste of time.

No country should  become the "capital" of crypto,because crypto will become more centralized (and dependent from a government) than ever.We all remember last year,when China was dominating the cryptocurrency mining and trading.Threads asking questions like "is China manipulating all crypto prices?" were all over the place.We don't want this to happen again.

You are wrong. Russia will not be the capital of cryptography. You correctly noted that now in Russia, democracy is being infringed and the laws on crypto-currencies that should be adopted in Russia this fall are unlikely to provide a broad opportunity for citizens to deal with crypto-currency. Most likely, many will be disappointed by them. The fact that a large percentage of ICO teams are Russian simply indicates that many of them are interested in crypto currency and are trying to make money on it. Personally, I tried to avoid joining the ICO projects as a member of the ICO generosity campaign, if the Russians dominated there. Too many of these teams turned out to be scammers.

Russia will not be the capital of the crypts, that's for sure. Among the politicians and in general representatives of the authorities of this country there were very contradictory views on the future of the crypto currency in this country and I saw in their statements more negative than its adoption. What is worth mentioning is the draft law on the criminalization of the use of crypto currency as a means of payment submitted to the State Duma of that country, that says it all. In my opinion, with the current authorities, the crypto currency for the people of Russia will be closed.

It might be getting popular, but I certainly understand that there are still some countries that are seriously kicking against it and most especially a non democratic setting where the government is autocratic. You can check out legality of bitcoin here in most countries; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory

It is understandable that government will always want to fight it as it disrupts a lot of things and most especially the control they have always had and that is something we both know is hard to give up, but for a democratic setting there is just so little they can do about it and even for an autocratic setting. I really do not see how a particular country will have the power to control or be a capital as the OP mentioned, what makes it decentralized is that with massive adoption in the long run globally, there will be so little to the control they can have.

I liked your answer reading the government banning the crypto currency and the reason behind it. The transparency is the right word for it and what to say about the crypto and political relations was you know more than us as you are pHD holder in the said area. As a common people I would say that politicians do have their own benefits in the crypto currencies but they wont get hampered with the fact that crypto currency is anonymous and thus can be used from other countries too and still the money can be exchanged in that way. So they wont even hesitate to take the decision of banning the crypto currencies within their own country. Now we dont have to talk much about the contacts and relations of politicians with the third parties and intentional traders which makes them everything very clear.

I like your train of thought. I agree that a corrupt government will always beware of the blockchain as it may cast doubt on their credibility. Also, I do not think that Russia will become the capital of crypto. I think that the capitals can be Switzerland, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore or maybe even the US.
In any case, thanks for your thoughts. It's a pity that everything in your country is so bad with cryptocurrencies.

For me, I will take politics above all others because the very direction any country will go is dependent on the decision of the political class. They are the one that will make the law, they will implement it and would even put machineries in place to ensure there is room to address conflicts when they arise. There are several developments and repots that have been suggested but because there is no political class commitment, it continues to gather dusts on the shelf.

On the issue of corruption, I believe there is hope for a country that practice democracy as it gives opportunity for change of government to bring about a forward looking government that is bent on eradicating corruption will push their will towards using technology to achieve that and that's where blockchain comes in handy. It is this force that would ensure that blockchain is utilised to the fullest rather than the micro ones individual are using it for their own selfish needs.

Politics are already lead by the corporation who pay the most in countries like USA and it is lead by politicians who are looking out for themselves in countries like Russia. Economics is already a big sector and crypto is a part of that, it is not separated from it.

Considering all of these are tied to each other, it is not wrong to say that they will all lead the world and crypto market together as it has always been. Banks will lobby the politicians, politicians will make laws and regulations and taxes, crypto people will either ignore or follow and improve and start to gain power. Same circle all the time.

I am not sure by the governments around the world have not understood the fact that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies cannot be destroyed just like the other invention. Russia is definitely supporting crypto and there are some countries like Australia, where students from primary grade are exploring this topic in their academic curriculum itself. Crypto will definitely empower the economy on an international scale in the coming years and these countries are just preparing for it.

Thank you guys for your contributions.

I really believe that all the governments will adopt blockchain technology at least in the mid-long-term, we have seen Venezuela creating theit own cryptocurrency, and Iran allowing the use of crypto after prohibited them before, everything will change, and crypto is the future.

do you mean cryptocurrencies are not an international currency? maybe you mean on south africa only, since they prohibits trading, but it doesn't mean that cryptos are not honored in other countries. having a foreign exchange in a country is good for the country, trade and commerce is a necessity.

but i agree on your statement that russia would only waste their time to regulate crypto bacause it is impossible to regulate, instead, they took advantage of its use and focus on where it is beneficial for them. they have harnessed the power and the potential use of cryptos in their govt.

Has Africa really made statement on cryptocurrency? Like openly making such statement of prohibiting it? Well... I'm yet to read the information, maybe you could assist to show some prove. I believe that African nations have been quiet about it or yet to come up with a ban news.

I do not think any oligarchy or dictatorship can lead the crypto market. Eventually these countries will decide on ways to ban, prohibit or hinder their trade.

A decentralized project does not belong to any country. This is the sacred stone of true projects related to cryptocurrencies. It is not possible to imagine that someone like Putin could be in the long term favorable to Bitcoin.

Then the country that will lead this market will be the country that gives more freedom of choice to its citizens. May he have more trade agreements. That has legislation favorable to entrepreneurship. And have laws that accept gambling and are light with the drug trade.

Why not? It may indirectly happen at some point.

Governments are tied to each other when it comes to conducting business on various levels, and the most convenient way to settle transactions is to use something that doesn't favor any government specifically. Bitcoin is neutral and that offers the possibility to conduct fair transactions, while right now every government is subject to potential shenanigans from a banking system that can't be trusted in any shape or form.

I'm actually expecting this sort of activity to take off in the coming few years. In other words, it's not only we as in the normal folks that are in need for decentralization.

In my opinion the economically strong country along with the political forces who agrees on the existence of the crypto currency will overcome other nations and thus will help the crypto legalities within then territory.

You speak about he Russia and most of the ICO's coming from that continent and you are thinking that it may be the first one to accept the crypto. But ho you have forgotten that there are already two to three countries who have legalised the use of crypto currency within their nation and they are Japan, Thailand, Australia etc.

Just because Russia has lot of ICO doesn't mean they will accept it.

I don't think that the correlations you found are necessarily correct.

Just because a government is issuing their own national cryptocurrency which is centralized, and supportive of that (including the example of the Venezuelan Petro as you mentioned), doesn't mean that they are actually pro-decentralized cryptos whatsoever.

In fact, some countries have the complete opposite policy. For example, India has essentially restricted access to bitcoin in an attempt at getting the banks to not co-operate with bitcoin related entities, yet they're trying to look towards building their own national backed crypto.

With bitcoin as a global currency I really don't think that it's logical to point towards any particular country or state as the leader of the crypto market, though countries with favorable regulations will likely attract more innovators in this field as well as regulated entities.

palle11

Thanks bro, but Africa is not a country with one governments, there are different nations in this country, some supports crypto, but some doesn't.

Morocco from example prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies, Egypt and Tunisia as well, but people still using crypto everywhere.

Politics is lead the entire world so we should not consider this will be lead the crypto market. But economics and cryptocurrency are linked in the single line so these two are lead in current crypto market. Because economic development automatically improve the growth of crypto currency so current market demand was few only but future commodity is waiting for the best technology so Economics is occupy major role in crypto market.

A whole lot dicey I must say. However, relating to the decentralized world, I would not say this is going to bring power or control to some particular space more than the rest. Globally, everyone will find a way to blend in and sure, the most country quick to adopt will have a lot of its citizens holding, and we all know the importance of early adoption compared to the laggards.

There will be a lot of problem for a dictatorship setting, but in reality, they really would not stop any smart person from being a part of the community as the control is not in their hands.

Obviously, the countries who will be at the forefront of crypto adoption will be the ones where regulations are mature but still supportive of bitcoin (without disrupting the actual use of bitcoin).

For now, this seems like countries like Japan (if they don't decide to put any extra taxes on bitcoin), Canada, Australia etc.

What you noted with Venezuela, Russia etc. having support of crypto is misleading because planning on issuing or supporting a centralised cryptocurrency issued by themselves is literally the same as supporting their own national fiat currency. It's not actually support bitcoin at all in terms of regulation or whatnot.

Very true! Russia will be far from the reality to be the leading nation to take control of Crypto currency that i prefer China over them because of series of manipulation attempt made by this country to control Bitcoin. For me, for the good governance to lead all countries of handing crypto it will be between Japan and USA as they shows great contributions just to make Crypto currency to be protected. In general, Politics will overall lead the Crypto market.

Partially agree with what you say about the topic. Majority of the nations fully agree to use SD as their international currency to deal and trade in because of the fact that their own currencies might be very down either or they might not be accepted everywhere.

I think its only the political system that is the superior. The government decides whether or not to recognize the crypto and these decisions are normally based on their policies. If their policies suit the crypto intervention in the already established economy, they would welcome it otherwise not.

No place can be the capital of crypto. Sure, some countries will tend to adopt it more than the rest pretty fast and that sure speaks well for the benefit they stand to gain as early adopters. I see this space as a decentralized space and coupled with the fact that Russia itself is not really certain where she stands in the whole thing, still begs for question.

I believe as time goes on, a lot of countries will start seeing the benefit and then there would be a global spread of usage than a country trying to control things they know cannot be controlled.