Government Response to Bitcoin

[tuneman1980]

I have a friend that is thinking of investing in Bitcoins.  He's the conspiracy theorist type and dug up the story below.  I don't agree with many of the points in the author's argument, but I wanted to post a link to the story here to get thoughts from some cryptocurrency investors with more experience and knowledge than myself.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/when-is-the-government-going-to-shut-down-bitcoin

Thanks for your input.

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[boor]

All government must agree to do it.

[tuneman1980]

For it to be successful?  I feel that even if exchanges can't convert BTC to USD there will always be individuals willing to do it for a fee.  It will just become more expensive.

[AzureEngineer]

You can't stop the signal.

[numismatist]

2015 wollen NSA und DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) ein neues Datencenter in Betrieb nehmen. Der Bauauftrag im Wert von 565 Millionen US-Dollar wurde im März vergeben, wie Erick Möchel berichtet hat. (D Sokolo) / (anw)

von http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Ex-Terrorfahnder-Keine-digitale-Kommunikation-ist-sicher-1856682.html


TL;DR local Childboards lacking here!

[juicingapple]

 I think the government is probably scheming to secretly undermine bitcoin.

[MickeyT2008]

I think the government is probably scheming to secretly undermine bitcoin.

If they can't destroy it then they'd be stupid not to invest in it instead, which of course would increase the value of the coins due to limited supply if it happened.  Of course though there's now other competing cryptocurrencies and I'd rather that the government didn't get involved, they always ruin everything that they touch.

[tuneman1980]

I highly doubt that they would invest in it.  Rather they would figure out the best way to get their cut through taxation.

[RodeoX]

If someone is thinking of bitcoin as an "investment", then you must do a much, much, much, much better job of research than crackpot conspiracy theories. Bitcoin should be considered extremely risky as a financial instrument.  Your friend should not invest more than he is willing to lose. Playing a market based on emotion and political bias will likely result in losses.

[bhunt]

governments, banks
i think they have enough reasons to undermine bitcoin, let's hope we will survive their attacks
a good thing to do is not to choose big pools for your mining

[MickeyT2008]

Yes but compared to the government's budget buying into bitcoin would cost them peanuts, so it's probably an easy thing for them to take a chance on

[AzureEngineer]

If the goverment wanted to destroy Bitcoin, it could easily point supercomputers at the block chain and just mine empty transaction blocks. One government computer could go 99% on the network and destroy the coin instantaneously. Such a thing would be trivial if the government has as much money/power as conspiracy theorists think it does.

[phillyj]

I still don't understand statements like the ones above. If everyone is focused on exchanging with fiat, then how can BTC anything more than a commodity? Sure, countries and import/exporters need to look at global currency and exchange rates, but many people within countries trade only their currency without exchanging.

Isn't the strength of the currency based on its inherent value? Won't the value increase if it can be used to trade products/services?

Just some ideas; I'm not an expert on currencies.

[lemmingtart]

 The CIA uses bitcoin to move money between countries off the grid.

[BurtW]

If the goverment wanted to destroy Bitcoin, it could easily point supercomputers at the block chain and just mine empty transaction blocks. One government computer could go 99% on the network and destroy the coin instantaneously.

This is not true.

[lemmingtart]

If the goverment wanted to destroy Bitcoin, it could easily point supercomputers at the block chain and just mine empty transaction blocks. One government computer could go 99% on the network and destroy the coin instantaneously.

This is not true.

It is true, the government has classified technology 150+ years ahead of everything that is made public. You really think they don't have the computer power to destroy bitcoin?

[BitcoinBarrel]

If the goverment wanted to destroy Bitcoin, it could easily point supercomputers at the block chain and just mine empty transaction blocks. One government computer could go 99% on the network and destroy the coin instantaneously.

This is not true.

It is true, the government has classified technology 150+ years ahead of everything that is made public. You really think they don't have the computer power to destroy bitcoin?

So when the lightbulb was invented in the 1800's they already had computers? Amazing what technomology can do!

[coldwaterbeacon]

 There are secret bases no one knows about where black projects take place. The projects are highly covert and deal with exotic/advanced technology. I would make a bet that the government does in fact have the capability to destroy bitcoin if it wanted.

[MiningUnited]

They don't have to necessarily "shut down" BitCoin, but change the public opinion and make them hate and fear it.

[dimension708]

 The government has already acknowledged bitcoins existence and said it is keep watch of it.