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September 21, 2017, 07:42:22 PM Last edit: September 21, 2017, 07:53:35 PM by Carlton Banks |
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I think it's more accurate to say: world governments feel highly ambivalent about blockchain tech & cryptocurrencies.
On the one hand, it adds to the mix of currency instruments and payment networks that reduces dependence and upsets monopolies. This makes it easier to handle businesses like Mastercard or Paypal, or political organisations whose currencies play the biggest role in world commerce (US, EU, China etc), as these organisations' hand has been weakened by Bitcoin, and so they are not in such a strong position to behave in a demanding way with respect to getting favourable conditions in the countries that do not directly represent the dominant currencies and payment networks.
On the other hand, it also strengthens the citizens of their country against the laws and/or abuses of the law by those same governments (and the US, EU and Chinese government are not spared this problem either). In addition, cryptocurrencies also have the potentianl to strengthen large international governmental organisations against the weaker governments too, depending on the aggregation of reactions from world governments, and on how financial markets behave too.
This could ultimately be a good thing, though. Governments cannot misbehave on the same scale as in the past, as they threaten a tax revolt if they are too shameless. And so the price of being too cynical or reckless is too high, politicians do need some kind of territory to live in, despite how poor their moral standards usually are, allowing the state to break down altogether will not be a viable option for the majority of politicians. Is it possible that blockchain tech could usher in an era of such incredible accountability that the governments finally fear the people?
I predict the public finances incentive will act particularly effectively for those governments with the worst public finances, and so it's no surprise that Japan has been quite accommodating to Bitcoin, for instance. For Japanese politicians, having an exit-strategy to their fiscal issues (the worst in the stable/developed world) that they don't need to take responsibility for (either to their subjects or their powerbroker state the US) should be quite attractive as an option.
China is an interesting case also, and I expect alot of this "crackdown" posturing will be no more than the hot air that it is right now. China have different problems to Japan, but the ultimate source is the same; an over-managed reserve currency backed by an increasingly belligerent USA. If the USA government continues to behave as it has, the Chinese government will need different options available to prevent the dollar and the SWIFT network being used against them, as crazy as that sounds. The Chinese government has financial counter-attacks to anything the US government could do, but it doesn't hurt to have a great-leveller style option (i.e. blockchain tech) in the arsenal, ultimately, the US has no counter to it (and it hurts the US more than any other government, the dollar is essentially treated increasingly like a credit card by each successive US administration).
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