2012-11-06 Irdial.com The ECB report on Bitcoin: you can smell their fear.

[World]

http://irdial.com/blogdial/?p=3420
the best part

The world is changing. Thanks to the internet, people are not only learning and sharing information as never before, but they are also using the same network to build tools that have never and could never exist before the internet. Adapt or die is the catchphrase that applies to both the ECB and the MPAA / RIAA. You must accept the new reality. It is not going away, and there is nothing you can do about this without destroying everything that is now dependent on the internet.

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[Roger_Murdock]

Yeah, that's good stuff!  This part jumped out at me.  In response to the claim that Bitcoin is "unregulated":

Virtual currencies are tightly regulated, by the market, and the software that orders those markets. This is the only regulation that matters. A more accurate description would be extralegal, since there is no law governing Bitcoin or systems like it. Bitcoin is usable not by a ‘specific virtual community’ but by everyone everywhere.

That's a great point.  Bitcoin IS regulated.  It's just that Bitcoin's regulation is accomplished by open-source code and the consensus of those who use it.  In contrast, fiat regulation is accomplished by men with guns and the private machinations of a financial elite.  Consensus and transparency versus violence and secrecy.  Seems like a pretty clear choice, no?

[hazek]

Yeah, that's good stuff!  This part jumped out at me.  In response to the claim that Bitcoin is "unregulated":

Virtual currencies are tightly regulated, by the market, and the software that orders those markets. This is the only regulation that matters. A more accurate description would be extralegal, since there is no law governing Bitcoin or systems like it. Bitcoin is usable not by a ‘specific virtual community’ but by everyone everywhere.

That's a great point.  Bitcoin IS regulated.  It's just that Bitcoin's regulation is accomplished by open-source code and the consensus of those who use it.  In contrast, fiat regulation is accomplished by men with guns and the private machinations of a financial elite.  Consensus and transparency versus violence and secrecy.  Seems like a pretty clear choice, no?

That's actually a really good point. It could be even argued Bitcoin is more strictly regulated than any other financial system since the rules that govern it are enforced through an algorithm and laws of math.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Yeah, that's good stuff!  This part jumped out at me.  In response to the claim that Bitcoin is "unregulated":

Virtual currencies are tightly regulated, by the market, and the software that orders those markets. This is the only regulation that matters. A more accurate description would be extralegal, since there is no law governing Bitcoin or systems like it. Bitcoin is usable not by a ‘specific virtual community’ but by everyone everywhere.

That's a great point.  Bitcoin IS regulated.  It's just that Bitcoin's regulation is accomplished by open-source code and the consensus of those who use it.  In contrast, fiat regulation is accomplished by men with guns and the private machinations of a financial elite.  Consensus and transparency versus violence and secrecy.  Seems like a pretty clear choice, no?

That's actually a really good point. It could be even argued Bitcoin is more strictly regulated than any other financial system since the rules that govern it are enforced through an algorithm and laws of math.

Quite, bitcoin is already strictly regulated, by the laws of mathematics ... what more could lawyers and judges add? (well besides the obvious political perversions of a perfectly fine piece of technology)

[Rygon]

Given the choice between a currency backed by polically motivated human beings, or one backed by the immutable laws of math and the continued existence of globally connected digital network, I'd pick the latter.

[Stephen Gornick]

There are some fantastic points made in this post.  I wish I had more time to read it in full when I first saw it posted last week.

When you think about it for a second, its clear that the idea of regulating Bitcoin is as stupid as the idea of regulating email.

And regulation of bitcoin would be just as effective as regulation on e-mail.

Oh, that's what was reiterated just a couple sentences later.

This post just nails it!