What happens to BTC when Finra or the SEC shut down Mtgox for money laundering?

[Vince Torres]

Serious question, if they would shut down pokerstars and megaupload for no reason other than someone lobbied or asked them to; what is stopping them from shutting down Mtgox?

[ralree]

Well, it would be bad, but I think the other exchanges could pick up the slack.  Many other exchanges go through extra trouble to meet AML requirements and such (thinking CampBX).

[laughingbear]

btc-e would go first.

[Raoul Duke]

btc-e would go first.

lolwut

[odolvlobo]

The SEC and FINRA are not all-powerful. They can't just go to Japan and shut down Mtgox.

btc-e would go first.

My guess is that btc-e would go last. Eastern Europe is about as far from the clutches of the U.S. government as you can get (well I suppose China is further).

[Bitcoinpro]

the window has closed for this

[Herodes]

the window has closed for this

Could you elaborate please?

[hazek]

the window has closed for this

Could you elaborate please?

There's a more than 3000 people queue of newly signed up users at mtgox waiting on just being able to verify their account. If they'd want to shut down mtgox, they couldn't do it on the pretense that they are currently breaking any laws. They'd have to pass new laws, and who knows how long that would take or what kind of consequences for Bitcoin and for them doing so in the first place could have. One scenario certainly is that just by intending to pass laws regulating Bitcoin they'd lend so much credibility to Bitcoin that it could easily explode to such a scale that would actually kill their mafia of psychopaths called the government, hence the window might have actually already closed for them.

[inge]

There's a more than 3000 people queue of newly signed up users at mtgox waiting on just being able to verify their account. If they'd want to shut down mtgox, they couldn't do it on the pretense that they are currently breaking any laws. They'd have to pass new laws, and who knows how long that would take or what kind of consequences for Bitcoin and for them doing so in the first place could have. One scenario certainly is that just by intending to pass laws regulating Bitcoin they'd lend so much credibility to Bitcoin that it could easily explode to such a scale that would actually kill their mafia of psychopaths called the government, hence the window might have actually already closed for them.

We've been through the Trusted procedure of MtGox, they take this very serious. They will do all it takes to prevent legal prosecution. You can't just forbid trade.

I also expect there will be a corporate only Bitcoins exchange soon enough, excluding private people.
Like the trade in commercial Uranium or certain chemicals.

[mobile4ever]

Serious question, if they would shut down pokerstars and megaupload for no reason other than someone lobbied or asked them to; what is stopping them from shutting down Mtgox?

This is another reason why we need decentralized bitcoin markets. Shutting down one server
is easy for a lot of people, not just the "they" you are talking about. If we had decentralized
bitcoin markets our lives would be easier and bitcoin would grow around the world.

[Severian]

Serious question, if they would shut down pokerstars and megaupload for no reason other than someone lobbied or asked them to; what is stopping them from shutting down Mtgox?

Nothing. Wait until Gox is in the clutches of the US jurisdiction when Coinlab moves operations to US mainland.

It's my impression that some of the principals involved in moving Gox are naive about political processes and implications as well as basic history.

[solomon]

btc-e would go first.

It's going now. Without any outside influence. Can hardly ever log in.

We definately need many exchanges on every continent of the world to minimalize the impact of government shutdowns. The way MTGOX currently dominates is a slight worry, as it creates a single point of faliure, but bitstamp is catching up for EU i think.

BTW these forums will be one of the first things to go down if bitcoin is made illegal.

[moni3z]

Remember Ukash is forbidden to sell to Americans because their vouchers can be used for online gambling. Paysafecard sells a neutered version to americans that cant be used for gambling nobody accepts. Since there is no special bitcoin to prevent gambling its forever a risk of getting shut down when you deal with Americans.

[Severian]

One scenario certainly is that just by intending to pass laws regulating Bitcoin they'd lend so much credibility to Bitcoin that it could easily explode to such a scale that would actually kill their mafia of psychopaths called the government, hence the window might have actually already closed for them.

That's my hope also, but we also have to keep the psychopathy in mind.

Psychopaths/sociopaths that have a powerbase have ultimate faith in their own abilities and believe themselves to be smarter than everyone else based on the simple logic of "I must be smarter than everyone else because I'm president/senator/Jamie Dimon/etc". When they're confronted with something they can't control via side channels, they'll regulate it outright. If they can't kill its market through regulation, they'll start disrupting the lives of people involved in making and moving the market, including confiscation of property, arrest and murder.  In Bitcoin's case, this would be developers, large pool operators and publicly known holders of large stashes of btc.

We're still in the "control through side channels" period of contact with TPTB. Moving Gox to the US will give TPTB the ability to attempt to manipulate Bitcoin's price and keep it undervalued. If they can keep the price low they'll be protecting their own gold market, their own favorite manipulated physical asset. If this fails and the price can't be controlled, they might skip the regulation phase and just jump straight to the disruption stage.

[mobile4ever]

We definately need many exchanges on every continent of the world to minimalize the impact of government shutdowns.

I agree. Bitcoin markets should be decentralized, just like bitcoin.

[BitCoinLoft]

As long as mtgox (or any other xchange for that matter) do not breach laws, they cannot shut down them. DOJ is not almighty either. When they shut down fulltilt and almost did the same with pokerstars, these companies were explicitly vilotating the law. if a certain site allows us players to gamble with btc, it is mtgox that must ban the site. btc cannot just be declared ilegal and banned. the bottomline is that if there are lot of btc users, lot of xchanges, it will become almost impossible to stop btc. so ppl, just promote btc, do everything to help bitconomy. it is our right to have bitcoin.

[Newscastix]

There is at least one exchange that cannot be shut down as easily as Mt. Gox:

https://localbitcoins.com

They can shut down the site but not the market itself. As decentralized as it gets.

[laughingbear]

There is a huge difference between usd-btc exchanges and currency exchanges. btc-e does usd-rur and usd-eur.  That is a big no-no.  Exchanging between currencies with zero information about your customers is highly illegal, and it does not matter where they are located.  I cant believe they haven't been shut down yet.  It is only a matter of time.

[Severian]

As long as mtgox (or any other xchange for that matter) do not breach laws, they cannot shut down them. DOJ is not almighty either.

Passing a law dealing with money is a trivial thing for those with a monopoly on currency, credit and force here in the good ol' US of A.

I have more faith in cooperation (networks) than I do in force (government) but we do have to be realistic about who we're dealing with. "Law" means nothing to government because they own it. Laws are only for us, not for them.

[ralree]

BTW these forums will be one of the first things to go down if bitcoin is made illegal.

Yeah just like all those websites and forums where one can talk about illegal drugs and filesharing don't exist.  Wait a minute...