Does regulating bitcoins is necessary for global adoption?

[deisik]

First of all, even if bitcoin is not legalized in a particular country, users do have to pay taxes on conversion

This is flat-out wrong

In some jurisdictions you don't have to pay capital gains tax on earnings obtained via currency exchange operations. Further, if Bitcoin is not legalized and still more so if it is outright banned or prohibited, you can't pay taxes associated with it since you can't tax something illegal in principle (that would effectively mean legalizing it). Apart from that, the recent rally was most likely caused by hype, not by Japan legalizing bitcoins per se. In other words, legalizing Bitcoin doesn't necessarily mean huge boost in adoption rates in the country where Bitcoin has been made legal. That remains to be seen, and the effect may take many months (if not years) to reveal itself

[itsallpc]

Bitcoin has already gained attention all over the world.But still it has not been accepted legally in many countries except few countries like japan.Regulation is needed for mass adoption of bitcoin.More people would get confidence in using bitcoin if regulated.But if regulated,tax implementation would be unavoidable.

[raven7886]

Bitcoin has already gained attention all over the world.But still it has not been accepted legally in many countries except few countries like japan.Regulation is needed for mass adoption of bitcoin.More people would get confidence in using bitcoin if regulated.But if regulated,tax implementation would be unavoidable.

In several countries Bitcoin is adopted by the citizens and they are using it as legally by the citizens. It is hope that soon Bitcoin will be started using on international level as a currency for Global Business. Already Japan adopted Bitcoin in their country. Australia is also thinking about it. But some countries are waiting for it to be legalized by their states but legalisation of Bitcoin is not the actual point. the actual point Is to making it look Global adopted currency and soon it will happen.

[Yakamoto]

Bitcoin has already gained attention all over the world.But still it has not been accepted legally in many countries except few countries like japan.Regulation is needed for mass adoption of bitcoin.More people would get confidence in using bitcoin if regulated.But if regulated,tax implementation would be unavoidable.

In several countries Bitcoin is adopted by the citizens and they are using it as legally by the citizens. It is hope that soon Bitcoin will be started using on international level as a currency for Global Business. Already Japan adopted Bitcoin in their country. Australia is also thinking about it. But some countries are waiting for it to be legalized by their states but legalisation of Bitcoin is not the actual point. the actual point Is to making it look Global adopted currency and soon it will happen.

Bitcoin is far from a good medium for countries to perform international business with though. You can't go down to the miner and give him Bitcoin in exchange for his ore, because he can't go to the grocery store and buy food with his Bitcoin, because the farmer can't buy a tractor with Bitcoin, etc. and it just goes down the line. Bitcoin is simply not liquid enough for it to matter on the world stage and it is easier for countries to use fiat instead of a crypto they would have to purchase. At the current market valuation, they would be buying nearly half the market cap to perform a $20B trade deal. Not a viable option.

[eaLiTy]

PS: I mean by global adoption, not 10% of a country's population using bitcoins, but at least 50%.

We are not able to get a smooth transactions when we have three hundred thousand transactions and how on earth that we are able to attract more people into bitcoin,it is not meant for mass adaptation and so we really do not need major adaptation to take the price for another rally or a crazy valuation,lets see what scaling does to bitcoin and i am eagerly waiting to see the changes which will make bitcoin better.

[mk4]

Now, there are two scenarios:

1. Users prefer bitcoins solely because it is decentralized and pseydo-anonymous. They do not want it to be regulated by a governing authority.

2. Users who think that even if bitcoins get regulated, it would not matter much. They are okay with accepting the centralized, tax paying, non-anonymous version of bitcoins.

First of all, even if bitcoin is not legalized in a particular country, users do have to pay taxes on conversion. Secondly, it is not entirely possible to enforce a complete ban on bitcoins so if bitcoin is even banned, users can still somhow escape without any legal implications.

But after Japan legalized bitcoins we have seen a tremendous spike in bitcoin price. Solely because when a governing authority backs and legalises bitcoin, not only it gets huge attention, but the citizens of that country believe it is something legal, it is something new, it is something technologically advanced, it is something that has future, it is something that we should try.

So the point is, IMO the more countries legslise bitcoin, the more it would grow, the more the bitcoin community and users would benefit from it. Obviously on the downside decentralization would be taken away, I guess at least partially.

So what's your opinion, do not want bitcoins to be regulated and let it grow on it's own or regulation is required for global adoption of bitcoins.

PS: I mean by global adoption, not 10% of a country's population using bitcoins, but at least 50%.

legalization of bitcoin is very good. Gives good publicity, better trust, etc. But regulation is something else. One of the main pros of bitcoin is its decentralization; this almost defeats the purpose.

In my opinion bitcoin in the future will be good on its own even without legalization/regulation.

But yes, your point is true. more legalization, more growth, more users.

[Ucy]

You can't regulate Bitcoin because it's not meant to be regulated.  No one can regular the air we breathe likewise the Blockchain. Another name for Blockchain in my opinion is Self-regulation...it sophisticated and self-regulating. It does make sense to talk about regulating Bitcoin by Central Authority. This's what pioneer are trying to avoid.

[Ucy]

OP and other pro-regulations need to sit down and think this through. Why do we have Bitcoin in the first place?
Citizens worried about politicians dissappearing with their collective wealth should probably use technology to secure their public funds. Bitcoin is far more Transparent than normal banks. Security agency can monitor the Blockchain without even touching or altering it. It cannot be regulated.