2013-05-15 Washington Post - The Coming Political Battle Over Bitcoin

[kiko]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/15/the-coming-political-battle-over-bitcoin/

Good Quotes from Jerry Brito:

Brito, a Bitcoin enthusiast, worries that the Bitcoin community will be caught flat-footed if this week’s enforcement action turns out to be the first step in a broader Bitcoin crackdown. “I hate to say it, but the Bitcoin community needs to start lobbying,” he says. “It needs to start educating policymakers, lobbyists and influencers about the pros of Bitcoin and the impossibility or the difficulty in getting rid of all the bad uses.”

hat tip r/bitcoin.

[cbeast]

Bitcoin is a fundamental technology. It's a human rights issue whether we are allowed to use it or not. Chance are, they will wait for other more civilized nations to show the path of the moral high ground.

[justusranvier]

“It needs to start educating policymakers, lobbyists and influencers about the pros of Bitcoin and the impossibility or the difficulty in getting rid of all the bad uses.”

That last part is the most crucial. Policymakers, lobbyists and influencers would never buy into a system that would allow users like themselves to be kept out.

How embarrassing is it to get caught with a freezer full of bribe money? Bitcoin makes it so much easier for politicians to hide their ill-gotten gains that for them it's really a no brainer.