What could really stop bitcoin now?

[taltamir]

What about North Korea? They're decidedly anti-western. Well except for their leader's private entertainment, but otherwise? Decidedly anti-western.

They are one of the most insane countries in the world.
Sane =! Anti western.

If countries were sane we wouldn't need an alternative currency to save us from irresponsible politicians the globe over printing money like mad or otherwise hamfistedly manipulating the currency.
And I doubt it will last since countries the world over have a history of cracking down on alternative currencies

[Mike Christ]

Anarchy   Where there is nation, there is government.  Where there is government...well, we all know how that plays out.

[johnwhitestar]

Back to the topic: I think that at some point all the willing investors will fulfil their desire to buy bitcoins (especially because the price of bitcoins is going up too much) and at some point the trend will invert itself and because of it with the help of some panic sell the price of bitcoins might go under the reasonable value

[greyhawk]

There's always Bulgaria. They don't have a government right now. You could go waltz right in there and declare it the Fiscal Republic of Bitcoinistan.

[taltamir]

There's always Bulgaria. They don't have a government right now. You could go waltz right in there and declare it the Fiscal Republic of Bitcoinistan.

I will need protection for that... any mercenary companies around accepting bitcoins...
Actually joking aside, are there any mercenary companies who accept bitcoins?

[Mike Christ]

There's always Bulgaria. They don't have a government right now. You could go waltz right in there and declare it the Fiscal Republic of Bitcoinistan.

I laughed harder at this than I probably should have  I'll have to keep Bitcoinistan in my vocabulary from now on

[QuantumKiwi]

There's always Bulgaria. They don't have a government right now. You could go waltz right in there and declare it the Fiscal Republic of Bitcoinistan.

I will need protection for that... any mercenary companies around accepting bitcoins...
Actually joking aside, are there any mercenary companies who accept bitcoins?

Yes there is, however i couldn't give you a name due to security reasons. But yes there is a large amount of security related companies that accept BTC.

[taltamir]

There's always Bulgaria. They don't have a government right now. You could go waltz right in there and declare it the Fiscal Republic of Bitcoinistan.

I will need protection for that... any mercenary companies around accepting bitcoins...
Actually joking aside, are there any mercenary companies who accept bitcoins?

Yes there is, however i couldn't give you a name due to security reasons. But yes there is a large amount of security related companies that accept BTC.

This is probably very good for bitcoin

[acayne]

Back to the topic: I think that at some point all the willing investors will fulfil their desire to buy bitcoins (especially because the price of bitcoins is going up too much) and at some point the trend will invert itself and because of it with the help of some panic sell the price of bitcoins might go under the reasonable value

This brings new questions to mind: When is this desire first fulfilled (market capitalization)? Why would investors (not just traders speculating on BTC/fiat-exchange rate) heavily sell if Bitcoin's still the "best" currency? Wouldn't traders reinvest if exchange rate falls below "the reasonable value"?

-we've got "pure bitcoin-based" multi-million dollar businesses (silkroad, satoshiDICE, mtGox,...)

Ah, yes, the multi-million dollar businesses: a black market and a casino. Yeah, that historically always went well. No really, it did, except for those that got their brains bashed in or got sunk in the Hudson or gunned down in the street. But: there's always new blood to take up the slack.

Damn you make these examples sound bad Of course you'll make the fastest money in branches which are normally strongly regulated. "Conventional stuff" will follow: ASICMINER+Bitfountain should be worth a few million at current exchange rates and I think there are others as well.

If any first-world government decides to flex their legal muscles to shut down exchanges, that will kill off the adoption rate and at the very least cause bitcoin usage to stagnate.

Sounds like a very real threat. Banks/the government could accuse every exchange of terrorism and money laundry. Don't have any knowledge regarding this, can it really be done so easily?

[nikb]

Code:

./bitcoind stop

And if *that* fails, killall 9 bitcoind

[wachtwoord]

What can stop Bitcoin now?

A big ass meteorite, the sun going nova and maybe Global Thermonuclear War.

Oh you mean realistically? Another cryptocurrency which is superior in a way I obviously do not know (else I would create it). I'm pretty sure cryptocurrencies will be around for the the long run.

[Mike Christ]

What can stop Bitcoin now?

A big ass meteorite, the sun going nova and maybe Global Thermonuclear War.

Oh you mean realistically? Another cryptocurrency which is superior in a way I obviously do not know (else I would create it). I'm pretty sure cryptocurrencies will be around for the the long run.

+1

Whether it's Bitcoin or something else, this new technology has trumped the dollar in every single way.

Only question is, how much kicking and screaming should we expect from fiat?

[Stephen Gornick]

- Blockchain.info being raided for mixing service, logs sized

I thought bitcoin was a distributed p2p network exactly to prevent such a thing

Bitcoin is a distributed p2p network exactly to prevent such a thing.

Blockchain.info is a third party service.   Because there isn't a requirement that users set up their wallet account to have an alias or to associate an e-mail address with the account, many are using it without getting possession of their private keys (e.g., backups sent via e-mail).  So if that service sees "friction", those who don't have their keys then don't have their coins.   Blockchain.info is now likely the most widely used wallet, after the Bitcoin.org client.  I suspect that if such an action were to occur, that action would be seriously harmful to Bitcoin.  I didn't say it would stop Bitcoin, but I did say it would probably knock Bitcoin down a few notches.  This is just like how the exchange hacks have nothing to do with Bitcoin network, but there was a loss in Bitcoin's credibility that came with each one.

[Lassi]

What can stop Bitcoin now?

These won't stop bitcoin, but any one could definitely reverse Bitcoin's current direction:

 - FinCEN going after exchanges for not filing as money transmitters (and/or for not registering as money service businesses) for selling "prepaid access".  (This includes those exchanges serving customers in the U.S. regardless of where the exchange is located).
 - Coinbase, BitMe, BitFloor, and CampBX being served subpoenas to cough up the USD and BTC transaction history for each of its customer accounts.
 - Blockchain.info being raided for mixing service, logs sized
 - Update to Adobe Flash released in January includes previously undetected wallet-stealer code that executed on all systems at 8am UTC February 19, 2013. [this is a hypothetical threat.]
 - etc.
 - etc.
 - etc.

Nasty doom and gloom. Have a Lassi and enjoy your day.

[kalinka]

If any first-world government decides to flex their legal muscles to shut down exchanges, that will kill off the adoption rate and at the very least cause bitcoin usage to stagnate.

This seems like its just a matter of time considering they have cracked down on any alternative currency in the past.
What can bitcoin do to survive in such a state?

I agree. I have considered doing some small business (buying/selling) using bitcoins, and probably will, but it seems to be a hassle to convert from bitcoin to cash. And then there's this too..if bitcoin just dies one day then my coins are useless.

[Stephen Gornick]

Nasty doom and gloom. Have a Lassi and enjoy your day.

I wish there were no threats.  I wish the only news of the day were what you read at Good News:
 - http://www.goodmood-news.com

But this is the real world.  There are real threats to be aware of.  They do exist to some degree.  They are the reason Bitcoin isn't already at $29,870 per BTC rather than just $29.87.  This thread asked what could stop bitcoin and I was just putting out some possibilities.

[Lethn]

Why didn't I know about this site?! Now I'm going to be reading it constantly because that's just a million times better than the stupid overly negative mainstream news I see thrown everywhere

[InfSys]

I don't think Bitcoin can or will be stopped (in a classical sense).

It's more likely that it is modified/transformed in some way by exerting influence on its main developers. That's the real risk as i see it. The majority of users does not pay much attention to technical details - so it's possible that certain critical aspects of a new client release remain undiscovered until it's too late.

[wachtwoord]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDgLOssQU8E

"Cause nothing can stop us now, only the good times left.
Nothing can stop our love,
except terminal illness or sudden accidental death!"

[LainZ]

Hello,

IMHO, What could stop bitcoin is the biggest players trying to manipulate the market, thus destroying BTC's credibity.

I hope the marketplace will be self regulating!

I think that a stable price will lead to adoption increase, as the world realize that USD or EUR, like bitcoin, is an experiment.

LainZ