I expect that self-regulation by Chinese exchanges can't please the central

[zhangweiwu]

I have a question.
 
Since China manufactures just about everything; including chips: how is the world supposed to get mining hardware in the face of a Chinese crack-down? What prevents Chinese authorities from seizing mining inventory and using it to attack the network?

1) I think chips are produced in Taiwan - they are moving to ShenZhen but there is no harm. Get this correct first: Bitcoin is a second consideration of China's government, Chinese people are the top enemy of Chinese government. Producing chips is harmless to our government.

2) If China doesn't produce mining equpiment, the bitcoin produced will not be less.

Even consider 1 + 2, your question is actually valid, because China government can technically use it to atack the network. But attack network only serve to discredit Bitcoin, and that is necessary only in the plan B scenario, plus the detective work that Lord usually averse to do, double unlikely. Our goverment should focus on what they are good at: discredit people and organizations, not descredit a technology.

Regarding plan B:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=589894.msg6715566#msg6715566

[phillipsjk]

Thanks for the reply.

I don't think any of the super-powers are going to try to seize Bitcoin hardware alone. Each has the capacity to produce their own chips. They would likely consult with each other to avoid a new arms race before taking such drastic action.

By "arms race" I mean: one nation-state tries to kill Bitcoin, while the other tries to defend it.

[r34tr783tr78]

As explained by the op, the "we are going to play invisible, please just forget we exist" line of the chinese exchanges won't be able to make the chinese authorities change their policy. They went too far to smash a still small insect (bitcoin) to just forget the all issue and let bitcoin exchanges keep business as usual only with a more discrete stand.

However, the authorities don't seem to have much more means to strangulate the exchanges beside banning them and arresting their owners, something they probably won't do, because that would be a drastic change of policy with uncertain results on the present chinese owners of bitcoins.

I guess we'll see a slow death of the main exchanges. Even if they go off shore, with the limitations to send CNY abroad, they won't be the same again. They already have competition from BTC-e.

[bitcool]

Our goverment should focus on what they are good at: discredit people and organizations, not descredit a technology.

From the government's point of view, the most efficient way attacking bitcoin is to weaken its confidence and reputation. Those fiat monetary policy makers know how important confidence is -- it means everything -- because they spend their whole life manipulating confidence. 

The problem with Chinese government is, they are fighting an uphill battle --  they are trying to manufacture and spread FUDs in a unfriendly territory for them,  the Internet.  Nowadays people in China trust more in rumors than official statements, those tactics can easily backfire and expose themselves as the real "paper tiger".