How I see legislation happening (Not FUD)

[hayek]

No! This is not another "Gubmint will make bitcoin illegal" thread.

I don't see the US government ever making it outright illegal. The worst I see, directly, happening are businesses being forced to register receiving addresses for tax tracking purposes. But that's not what this is about.

/equips tinfoil hat
I believe it's easier to sell an Internet border, essentially something permanent like what we see in the middle east whenever they revolt. Complete control of the data going in and out of the country. It's easier to say "Foreigners are the biggest demographic of internet pirate" (yar!) And then point to the pirate party. It's easy to say "Russian hackers steal (b?)millions dollars, data and intellectual property every year" and point to Dmitry Sklyarov. It's even easier to say "Bitcoin is used by drug dealers sending money overseas to finance drug smugglers." and point to Ross Ulbricht (allegedly). And foreign governments and terrorists who are not friendly to America are attacking America's computer systems compromising national defense and large corporations."

And propose what would, in spirit, be a large firewall around America's telecomm infrastructure.

/tinfoil off

Ok, now I wouldn't be surprised if something like that currently exists, I mean there is a killswitch. It would just be permanent. I'm just saying that our government always looks bigger when it comes to expanding power. Yeah, we know the above is bullshit but there are people in America who thought building a 12' border fence would keep out immigrants. It's not us they have to convince, it's our grandparent's and our parents. I grew up in a rural area. Talking to older folks about "Internets money" isn't easy. And as we all know, American politicians love to exploit fear and ignorance.

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[knight22]

And how hard it would be to move around such a firewall?

[NewLiberty]

And how hard it would be to move around such a firewall?

For some, easy, for most, not so much.

The Chinese experience could be instructive on national firewalls.
People often believe what they are told authoritatively, and so first the firewall is built in the minds of the people.

[genjix]

As long as we keep paying lip service to fools, we will not own our own minds. Bitcoin is a natural invention and will win out. The internet will prevail over power structures too. The printing press did, overturning old hierarchies and overcoming their challenges to truth. It's not a good idea to compromise on your values because you want to win some short time favour or platitudes from a bully. It doesn't work and only emboldens the state from easy successes in gaining compliance. That's the bigger threat to Bitcoin: compromising on its revolutionary qualities.

[balanghai]

As long as we keep paying lip service to fools, we will not own our own minds. Bitcoin is a natural invention and will win out. The internet will prevail over power structures too. The printing press did, overturning old hierarchies and overcoming their challenges to truth. It's not a good idea to compromise on your values because you want to win some short time favour or platitudes from a bully. It doesn't work and only emboldens the state from easy successes in gaining compliance. That's the bigger threat to Bitcoin: compromising on its revolutionary qualities.

Well said. Also it's not up to them, it's about the people willing to cooperate and win this battle against economic tyranny.