Why do people fear regulation so much?

[byt411]

bitcoin will get a regulation eventually, it is inevitable. mtgox will just make it sooner.

I'd like to see them try to regulate bitcoin. The max they can do is just govern bitcoin exchanges...

[Bitcoinpro]

they don't its just the forum hierarchy and their legion of alts they are the biggest scam crew you can think of look at how much they have gotten away with at gox all in it together, they will be throwing a big party at Mark's cayman islands mansion you can bet on that

[davidgdg]

...The fact that ...pharmaeutical is regulated is good: I can trust that they are safe and won't poison me.

You need to distinguish between what is seen and what is not seen.

You see the "good" effects of regulation. You don't see the bad. Pharmaceutical regulation raises the cost of drug development and medical research  by orders of magnitude. The consequence of that is that many life-saving medicines and treatments never reach the market at all.

Thus millions die. It's just that you don't know who they are.

[Lauda]

The problem is not regulating, the problem lies in how it is going to get regulated.

[Thanatopsis]

But to be realistic, there will have to be some form of regulation by the time Bitcoin really breaks out into the mainstream. Governments, and a large part of the public in my opinion, will expect a certain minimum standard of regulation i order to allow Bitcoin to have a meaningful role in the payment system.

There will have to be rule to ensure that Bitcoin does not become the favorite tool of child porn producers, extortionists and terrorists (just to foreshadow some inflaming headlines we are sure to see at some point) which means thare has to be some kind of effective Anti Money Laundering regulation.

The developed countries will also have to make sure that Bitcoin does not lead to rampant tax evasion. They have barely managed to effectively close the tax evasion heaven that was the Swiss banking system and now there is Bitcoin. Taxes will have to be levied regardless what kind of currency a transaction is performed in because the states need the money and will get it this or that way. Now obviously, this might lead to a major change in our system of taxation towards a consumption based system because it would be easier to control but taxation there will be non the less.

Now right now nobody knows how that regulation will look but it will surely come...

Lets just hope they take the time to actually think of new regulations for bitcoin. Regulations adapted to the new kind of system Bitcoin is instead of just saying "all the old rules apply and then some" grinding the whole process to a screeching halt.

[DooMAD]

If there were a practical way to do it without breaking the purity of a two party transaction, sender and receiver, someone would have made an alt that does it already.  All regulation will do is add middlemen.  If anything, the situation with gox proves beyond all doubt that adding third parties to mix is a recipe for disaster. 

As usual, Andreas says it best:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy6XIBnThpY
Minutes 15:00 through 21:00 are the parts you need to watch if you think regulation is needed or wanted.
But really you should watch the whole thing to fully understand how this currency actually works.

[Thanatopsis]

Then governments will go ahead and break Bitcoin if they so choose.

Or, more likely, they will require all merchants and banks and exchanges and everyone else to reliably prove that the Bitcoins they have just accepted were not from an illegal source or were part of a money laundering transaction. Just like they are doing with cash today. Which you can't because that would "break bitcoin". Which will mean, that you won't be able to use Bitcoin to buy anything in any developed country. Which makes it a fun experiment but after all pretty much useless.

There will have to be some kind of assurance that basic standards of AML assurance are maintained. Otherwise Bitcoin can never break out of it's current role and go "mainstream". Governments will simply not allow it and while they can not shut it down, they can make it effectively worthless.

I absolutely agree that blacklisting is pointless and stupid. I also think we will have to think of something else to achieve the desired effect.

[DooMAD]

Then governments will go ahead and break Bitcoin if they so choose.

Or, more likely, they will require all merchants and banks and exchanges and everyone else to reliably prove that the Bitcoins they have just accepted were not from an illegal source or were part of a money laundering transaction. Just like they are doing with cash today. Which you can't because that would "break bitcoin". Which will mean, that you won't be able to use Bitcoin to buy anything in any developed country. Which makes it a fun experiment but after all pretty much useless.

There will have to be some kind of assurance that basic standards of AML assurance are maintained. Otherwise Bitcoin can never break out of it's current role and go "mainstream". Governments will simply not allow it and while they can not shut it down, they can make it effectively worthless.

I absolutely agree that blacklisting is pointless and stupid. I also think we will have to think of something else to achieve the desired effect.

Cash is accepted everywhere without proof to show it hasn't been laundered or obtained via illicit means, so I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit on that.  Also, governments aren't going to waste "their" money enforcing rules on something they're not going to profit from.  There's no incentive for them to want to regulate it.  The US has already said they have no place in regulating it, so you might wanna go buy mintchip or something if you think regulation is the way forward. 

[_Miracle]

We already have highly regulated money systems that... are not working.
It's time to have other options.

Bitcoin needs to stay as it is.

I do agree that regulations be in place when bits convert to fiat (exchanges are a good example).

My concern is that regulators will attached old rules to a new technology and drag it down.
We will see?

[vailixi]

Consenting to be regulated is like saying that you don't have the authority to act of your own accord and that you don't have the intelligence to make your own decisions. You don't need to ask for permission to do something as long as you are not harming anyone else.

Word of the day..

Liberty