Will Bitcoin collapse by a global government crackdown?

[Abiky]

With all the buzz lately of governments cracking down on cryptocurrencies, there has been fear among people with regards to Bitcoin and altcoins. This is one of the many reasons why 2018 experienced a sharp decline in the value of the whole crypto market, leaving many wonder the outcome of a complete government crackdown towards Bitcoin and other cryptos in the future.

As such, what do you think will happen with Bitcoin if all the governments of the world ban it? Will it collapse after the massive crackdown on every single cryptocurrency? Or will it survive? AFAIK, Bitcoin is largely dependent on nodes distributed geographically. The Internet is controlled by ISPs which are subject to government demands. If a global government crackdown happens, then the growth of Bitcoin and other cryptos might stale for sure.

Nonetheless, what are your thoughts about this?

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[crwth]

Whenever I think of something that was banned, it's Illegal Drugs. I think this is a great subject to compare since some countries are in it with the ban with drugs and cryptocurrency. As a result, there would be a scarcity of Bitcoin supporters on those countries that banned. Generalizing, I think the price could go up on those areas because it would be harder to get. But the problem is, people would be scared to use it. If all the government, together, made a way to ban Bitcoin, there will be no one to support it anymore. Hence, no more Bitcoin.

So it can only go two ways, rise in price in usage, or go away forever. I don't think the latter would stick though.

[joniboini]

The Internet is controlled by ISPs which are subject to government demands.

We can simply use an encrypted internet connection to connect the node. Use something like dnscrypt for example, and you can connect again with other nodes. I'm not really sure the government wants to ban Bitcoin (blocking their connection) because it's just a waste of resource. They might try to shut down any cryptocurrency exchange though so that people won't be able to cash out. But we can still trade offline, or use something like Bisq.

I don't think government crackdown will happen, but if it does, I believe we can find a solution for that.

[figmentofmyass]

With all the buzz lately of governments cracking down on cryptocurrencies, there has been fear among people with regards to Bitcoin and altcoins. This is one of the many reasons why 2018 experienced a sharp decline in the value of the whole crypto market, leaving many wonder the outcome of a complete government crackdown towards Bitcoin and other cryptos in the future.

they're cracking down on services, exchanges, and fundraisers who were flouting existing regulations. for example, ICO issuers selling securities to USA investors without SEC registration. or 1broker allowing USA residents to trade CFD instruments without AML/KYC or SEC/CFTC registration.

i wouldn't say they're cracking down on cryptocurrencies. outside of china and a few small countries like algeria, governments have been surprisingly receptive towards the crypto economy. most governments seem to want to integrate and regulate, rather than prohibit, crypto.

[cfif123]

in my opinion it could collapse because now the government is not serving and opening up opportunities for bitcoin to emerge in this country so for me nowadays bitcoin is not as easy as it once was

[Kakmakr]

What Global crackdown?

Most governments already accepted Bitcoin either as a currency <Japan> or a commodity <rest of the world>  In any way, if governments decides to "ban" Crypto currencies, people will just go underground with it. <Trading on the Darknet and on Black markets>

They cannot stop the Bitcoin network, because it is decentralized and nodes are spread all over the world. <Similar to how torrent networks are unstoppable at the moment.> 

[Artemis3]

As such, what do you think will happen with Bitcoin if all the governments of the world ban it? Will it collapse after the massive crackdown on every single cryptocurrency? Or will it survive? AFAIK, Bitcoin is largely dependent on nodes distributed geographically. The Internet is controlled by ISPs which are subject to government demands. If a global government crackdown happens, then the growth of Bitcoin and other cryptos might stale for sure.

Nonetheless, what are your thoughts about this?

It would survive. And at this point it is very unlikely that ALL countries would ban it. If anything, its the minority of oppressive regimes that do. But still, bitcoin was designed to resist this from the start. Sure hashrate and price would fluctuate, but it would find its place and things would continue as usual: 1 block every 10 minutes.

If it became draconian, perhaps more/better obfuscation would be needed (like the Tor project). I'm sure the developer's community would respond to the challenge and go around any censorship.

[mk4]

Depends on what you mean by "collapse"; and this is assuming that the governments would actually totally ban it, which I think it's a bit unlikely. Will it drop in price if ever majority of the world governments would ban it? I surely bet it would, mainly due to the panic selling from the people. But would it die? Hell no. If bitcoin were to really die someday, I really doubt that the reason would be due to a worldwide government ban.

Also, I don't think a "crackdown" necessarily mean a ban. It could just mean tighter/stricter regulations.

[proTECH77]

On the issue of regulations, my believe is the government intentions are not real as they intend to have a total control over the world of cryptocurrencies were by taken sole aim of tracking/cracking down individuals with huge amount of BTC in their wallet. Government will give rigid  and strict regulations on cryptos in order to be in charge, so, Bitcoin regulation will bring freedom to crypto-industry but crack down on HOLDERS. Bitcoin will collapse by a global Government crackdown.

[qiwoman2]

I think Bitcoin now is too big to ban, but it will come under regulations when it is being used and traded as currency and also as an asset or investment instrument. I think some regulation is needed and some protection for the investors and consumers is good because it means more and more mainstream people will come and have a look at what Bitcoin has to offer. As for the price, it is being suppressed by the whales and big shots, we all know this how markets work. I wish I had known it through last January, then I would not be in the predicament I am in right now. I hope a miracle happens and the tide turns for the better and we see Bitcoin and Altcoins rise again like they did at the end of 2017 but I think we are in for a long Bitcoin bear winter.

[Herbert2020]

With all the buzz lately of governments cracking down on cryptocurrencies,

90% of this "buzz" has been FUD from people trying to scare newbies into selling their bitcoins so that they could buy it cheaper.

there has been fear among people with regards to Bitcoin and altcoins.

if someone has a fear about a decentralized currency such as bitcoin when it comes to government and their "crackdown" then they didn't understand what decentralized means. they need to go back and renew their basic knowledge which they skipped when they were starting with bitcoin.

As such, what do you think will happen with Bitcoin if all the governments of the world ban it?

same thing that has happened whenever some government in a couple of countries have banned bitcoin= an initial drama with a small dip then back to normal again.

[daarul50]

Too far if we think that all governments will ban cryptocurrency because the development of bitcoin and altcoin is too large so that it is difficult to prohibit. For example, we can hear that there are some countries that have banned the use of bitcoin but people in that country still can use bitcoin. The right solution at this time is the government provides regulations for the use of bitcoin so that bitcoin can be much more controlled in its use.

[aoluain]

Why would they want to crackdown on crypto when they are and could
earn revenue by taxation? Most countries at the moment treat crypto
the same as any other commodities or shares they get taxes when
it goes back to FIAT.

[coinwizard_]

The internet is too important for the global economy. As long as there is an internet pipe there will be bitcoin. Governments cannot agree to denuclearisation, they wonlt agree to remove bitcoin

[maemunah]

in my opinion bitcoin collapsed as many governments did not agree to the existence of bitcoin because it ruined the country's economy even though for me if bitcoin underwent that state and its government even though it would be good in its government

[muslol67]

With all the buzz lately of governments cracking down on cryptocurrencies, there has been fear among people with regards to Bitcoin and altcoins. This is one of the many reasons why 2018 experienced a sharp decline in the value of the whole crypto market, leaving many wonder the outcome of a complete government crackdown towards Bitcoin and other cryptos in the future.

As such, what do you think will happen with Bitcoin if all the governments of the world ban it? Will it collapse after the massive crackdown on every single cryptocurrency? Or will it survive? AFAIK, Bitcoin is largely dependent on nodes distributed geographically. The Internet is controlled by ISPs which are subject to government demands. If a global government crackdown happens, then the growth of Bitcoin and other cryptos might stale for sure.

Nonetheless, what are your thoughts about this?

First of all it is impossible for states to go to such a ban. How far can you prohibit something that is decentralized and done via a computer?

I think we should focus on solving the energy problem and scalability instead of thinking about such situations.

[gilangIDR]

The government does have an important role in the development of the crypto world. It can even be stated that when the government makes a decision, this will directly affect the price of crypto. A negative decision will certainly produce a negative thing and when the government makes a supportive decision it will make a positive development towards the direction of crypto development.

[Wind_FURY]

OP, what it might become is find its own niche among enthusiasts, criminals, and money launderers just like what Bittorrent has become in the age of Netflix. It will be like 2011 again, and from there it can grow one more time. It's an "unscratchable itch".

I believe some people overestimate what the government can do, and underestimate what Bitcoin can achieve.

[eaLiTy]

I don't think that Bitcoin will collapse when there is global Government crackdown of cryptocurrencies as the idea of bitcoins came into existence when there was a global financial breakdown, infact Bitcoins has helped the early investors to be millionaires which means Bitcoins has the potential to bring the world out from the financial breakdown and it is common in all the financial markets for rise and fall in the markets, likewise there are more chances for the global  Governments to accept and adopt bitcoins and blockchain technology.

[andi_wahid]

I'm not sure all the countries in the world are united to crush bitcoin, but what I believe is they are making rumors in the media to weaken the temporary bitcoin so that they can set it in their rules and when they are under surveillance, they will lift up to get the advantage of bitcoin, this is very easy for the government because the media is in their hands