What if the US Government forced exchanges to close?

[tailwind]

Sorry for my newbie questions.  I'm totally new to bitcoins.

Is it possible that the US government could shut down bitcoin exchanges?
The kind that let you buy fiat currencies?

Thanks
Newbalicious 

[OgNasty]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2013/01/28/government-ban-on-bitcoin-would-fail-miserably/

[TehTDK]

The US government would only have power to shutdown exchanges running on servers hosting in the USA. Any other exchanges would have to be shut down by the appropriate country their hosting recides in. Obviously USA would and could try to pressure them into closing it, but that would be a gamble at best.

[Monster Tent]

A ban on bitcoin would increase the price as has every other time prohibition has been tried.

TLDR I hope they try.

[tailwind]

The US government would only have power to shutdown exchanges running on servers hosting in the USA. Any other exchanges would have to be shut down by the appropriate country their hosting recides in. Obviously USA would and could try to pressure them into closing it, but that would be a gamble at best.

A Gamble?  I think the US Government still has enough firepower to be very persuasive. 

Thanks
TW

[JoelKatz]

Sorry for my newbie questions.  I'm totally new to bitcoins.

Is it possible that the US government could shut down bitcoin exchanges?
The kind that let you buy fiat currencies?

It's very hard to both ban and regulate something at the same time.

[DeathAndTaxes]

The US government would only have power to shutdown exchanges running on servers hosting in the USA. Any other exchanges would have to be shut down by the appropriate country their hosting recides in. Obviously USA would and could try to pressure them into closing it, but that would be a gamble at best.

A Gamble?  I think the US Government still has enough firepower to be very persuasive.  

Thanks
TW

Of course.  Bitcoin is such a threat the US is going to engage in a shooting war to force other nations to shut down exchanges.  Shit if they did that Bitcoin would probably be $329,038 USD per BTC because it would be downright proof of the power of Bitcoin.  Nobody spends bilions going to war to destroy something which doesn't matter.  We didn't see the great Flooz War of 1999 for example.

If the US banned exchanges it would simply push them into offshore locations (which have long since flipped the bird at the US when it comes to banking regulations).  In the short term that would be negative, BTC price would likely tank overnight, but longer term BTC would emerge even more powerful and people would point to the failed US action as both a sign of the threat that BTC represents to the established powers and the resiliance of the global network.

I doubt the US would make a move like that.  Regulate and tax is far more effective than ban and lose all control.

[tailwind]

[/quote]

If the US banned exchanges it would simply push them into offshore locations (which have long since flipped the bird at the US when it comes to banking regulations).  In the short term that would be negative, BTC price would likely tank overnight, but longer term BTC would emerge even more powerful and people would point to the failed US action as both a sign of the threat that BTC represents to the established powers and the resiliance of the global network.

[/quote]

I guess that is my point.  The US government makes moves all the time.  Move into Iraq.   Move into Afghanistan. 
Every heard of the website Megaupload?  So far, the US hasn't been able to extradite the executives of this website, but they got what they wanted.  They were able to shut down Metgaupload without any due process.  The USA are a bunch of bullies at all times.

The danger of the exchanges in my mind is that they are vulnerable to being shut down by fearful bankers and governments.

One way around exchanges is to go off the grid.  Instead of depending on exchanges, trade Bitcoins for commodities like gold from individuals.  How could the government stop that?

Thanks,
TW

[bootmii]

They won't.
----
Now 7584 blocks away

[atpcas]

Sorry for my newbie questions.  I'm totally new to bitcoins.

Is it possible that the US government could shut down bitcoin exchanges?
The kind that let you buy fiat currencies?

Thanks
Newbalicious 

MtGox runs out of Japan.  How would they shut that down?

[Gestas]

Sorry for my newbie questions.  I'm totally new to bitcoins.

Is it possible that the US government could shut down bitcoin exchanges?
The kind that let you buy fiat currencies?

Thanks
Newbalicious  

MtGox runs out of Japan.  How would they shut that down?

US to Japan hey you know them 10s of thousands of troops we have there protecting your ass well there gone if you don't ....

You're an idiot if you think they need those troops there. We have them stationed there for our tactical advantage which is more important than bitcoin will ever be.

[bbit]

Sorry for my newbie questions.  I'm totally new to bitcoins.

Is it possible that the US government could shut down bitcoin exchanges?
The kind that let you buy fiat currencies?

Thanks
Newbalicious  

MtGox runs out of Japan.  How would they shut that down?

US to Japan hey you know them 10s of thousands of troops we have there protecting your ass well there gone if you don't ....

You're an idiot if you think they need those troops there. We have them stationed there for our tactical advantage which is more important than bitcoin will ever be.

Whatever asshole who got the trillion plus bailout you think they won't do their bidding again.

lol...gets popcorn....

oh and welcome Op!

[Gestas]

Sorry for my newbie questions.  I'm totally new to bitcoins.

Is it possible that the US government could shut down bitcoin exchanges?
The kind that let you buy fiat currencies?

Thanks
Newbalicious  

MtGox runs out of Japan.  How would they shut that down?

US to Japan hey you know them 10s of thousands of troops we have there protecting your ass well there gone if you don't ....

You're an idiot if you think they need those troops there. We have them stationed there for our tactical advantage which is more important than bitcoin will ever be.

Whatever asshole who got the trillion plus bailout you think they won't do their bidding again.

No, because doing so would hurt our ability to project power. It's cute that you think a currency of scammers and thieves is even a real threat to the USD.

[itai3856]

why the us will want to force exchanges to close?

[Gestas]

why the us will want to force exchanges to close?

A Libertarian wet dream where everyone starts using gold bitcoins instead of the USD.

[itai3856]

oh i see lol

[Raoul Duke]

why the us will want to force exchanges to close?

A Libertarian wet dream where everyone starts using gold bitcoins instead of the USD.

I will go with the most logical explanation and call you a Libertarian, because you can't possibly know what other people dream about.

[Gestas]

why the us will want to force exchanges to close?

A Libertarian wet dream where everyone starts using gold bitcoins instead of the USD.

I will go with the most logical explanation and call you a Libertarian, because you can't possibly know what other people dream about.

Cute.

[Jace]

Every heard of the website Megaupload?  So far, the US hasn't been able to extradite the executives of this website, but they got what they wanted.  They were able to shut down Metgaupload without any due process.

You mean they didn't get a conviction against Kim Dotcom, and they only got him to launch the all new Mega, which is generally a huge improvement and step forward from the old Megaupload.

Or what about The Pirate Bay. They've been trying to shut that down for years.. to no avail whatsoever

If exchanges were actually being forced to close (which I don't see happening), we'd see new exchanges appearing immediately on TOR, darknet, freenet, China, and whatnot.

No sir, there's no stopping Bitcoin for governments, bankers, or anyone.

[Lethn]

Well, think about how pirate bay and mega upload keep going, if it's hated by the U.S government people will want to use it just to piss them off even more ( like I do ) I suspect it will be a similar outcome with Bitcoin, they'll try to attack it and shut it all down but people are just going to ignore them or find ways round it.