Why Bitcoin can't be banned

[LeGaulois]

I would like to take up the points of an article published on Bitcoinist. (Even if some will say that this media is Pro-Bitcoin the points are the most important.)

1. Laws Can’t Be Written Against Bits and Bites
2. You Can’t Ban Open-Source Distributed Software
3. Bitcoin Can Be Broadcasted via Satellite
4. You can Send Bitcoin Via SMS
5. You Can’t Shut Down the Power Grid

Any regulation can't prevent us from using Bitcoin. Despite their attempt to keep an eye on the system, it is simply impossible for them to ban people using it. So why giving a fuck to "I'm afraid my country will ban Bitcoin!"
They have nothing to fully stop the ecosystem that is currently emerging.

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[alisafidel58]

I think that the author of that article should speak with the Chinese Government since they are now banning bitcoin. We all know that once the Chinese Government moves it's for real. Too bad for Chinese people who use bitcoin and other cryptos, lucky for us since our government thinks the same as the author of this article.

[sheenshane]

Banning in bitcoin's ecosystem is really nearly impossible. You are right with your point that bitcoin is an opensource platform and it is not made to be regulated and is the user's choice and risk to use it.

However, banning it with the part that stopping and not allowing people to accept it and use it as a payment method is the thing to consider. You may have a bunch of bitcoin. But what would be the sense of it if the government already issued a law for the people not to accept it and not to consider the value of it? The government has the power to stop people from using it and consider it as an illegal deed.

[Haunebu]

However, banning it with the part that stopping and not allowing people to accept it and use it as a payment method is the thing to consider. You may have a bunch of bitcoin. But what would be the sense of it if the government already issued a law for the people not to accept it and not to consider the value of it? The government has the power to stop people from using it and consider it as an illegal deed.

So? Who cares if the government considers it as an illegal deed? Not everyone cares what the government think. If that were the case, no one would download torrents and no one would visit the dark web.

For example, the Indian government banned crypto exchanges completely, but Indians execute Bitcoin related transactions regularly through P2P platforms like LocalBitcoins.

[DreamStage]

You are basically asking why Bitcoin can't be centralized...

That's the first reason why it can't be banned, also due to being on a world wide network where everyone configures / changes it as they wish.

Such examples on why isn't bannable is because it's open source and you can still make derivates from it.

[Bitinity]

However, banning it with the part that stopping and not allowing people to accept it and use it as a payment method is the thing to consider. You may have a bunch of bitcoin. But what would be the sense of it if the government already issued a law for the people not to accept it and not to consider the value of it? The government has the power to stop people from using it and consider it as an illegal deed.

So? Who cares if the government considers it as an illegal deed? Not everyone cares what the government think. If that were the case, no one would download torrents and no one would visit the dark web.

For example, the Indian government banned crypto exchanges completely, but Indians execute Bitcoin related transactions regularly through P2P platforms like LocalBitcoins.

Once the government bans bitcoin, most people cares about it. Those who do not care about the bans are those who do not afraid to be punished or getting sanction from the government. It is true that there is always a way to access it although it is banned, I my self wont care about it too much but I'll be more careful.

[Jating]

I think that the author of that article should speak with the Chinese Government since they are now banning bitcoin. We all know that once the Chinese Government moves it's for real. Too bad for Chinese people who use bitcoin and other cryptos, lucky for us since our government thinks the same as the author of this article.

Chinese government can't stop bitcoin to be honest, there's a lot of OTC buying and I'm sure that trading underground will also occurs once they really put the ban hammer.

So it's really up to where we decided to live, if you are somewhat in a government wherein they have a hard stance, chances are, you might want to migrate to other nations wherein crypto is regulated.

[mk4]

I mean, they technically can't stop us from using it, which is good, but I'd be lying if I said that I'm fine with countries banning bitcoin. From the fact alone that exchanges will be banned by the governments, it would be very tedious to try to get in and out of bitcoin. We would need to do it with black hoodies and do it on dark alleyways to be able to transact locally.

[Linkkoin]

Bitcoin will not be banned but will be traced.

Privacy coins on the other hand surely will get banned, sooner or later because the privacy modes can POTENTIALLY be used by some sort of wrongdoers. No matter if you want to make someone a surprise gift, want to buy some kinky fetish lingerie or you could have a chance to buy something illegal or pay for illegal services unnoticed.

[tomahawk9]

So why giving a fuck to "I'm afraid my country will ban Bitcoin!"

I think people are afraid of the negative impact that such decision will cause in their country.

The perception that the general public has over Bitcoin will change dramatically if a govt decides to ban bitcoin, they'll see bitcoin as something illegal, anyone associated with it will be seen as a "criminal" (the masses can sometimes overreact), if you get caught using it (buy/sell stuff with btc, converting to fiat, etc), you're gonna face serious consequences like fines or something more severe (obviously, depending on how strict the ban is).

Adoption in that country will most likely stop, no one will accept btc as a alternative payment method (not legally), you won't be able to trade it as exchanges will probably shut down, you're left with something that can act as a store of value, which is great, but you won't be able to use it freely, anyone who wants to get involved with btc in a country where is banned will have to do it secretly, in the underworld, not that cool tbh.

[Rana590]

It has own block chain. Bitcoin and fiat currency is not same things. They are different from each other and government can't handle it. Government can announce some notice but can't control it. Bitcoin is a decentralized crypto currency. Banning bitcoin from user is really not possible.

[okala]

I think that the author of that article should speak with the Chinese Government since they are now banning bitcoin. We all know that once the Chinese Government moves it's for real. Too bad for Chinese people who use bitcoin and other cryptos, lucky for us since our government thinks the same as the author of this article.

Is the Chinese government banning bitcoin or regulating the virtual agent's, because the last I hard from China is the stopping of bitcoin mining farm's, the point here is very clear even in China today the citizens are still using bitcoin freely so I still agree with the author of the article no government can ban bitcoin, before bitcoin can be unaccessible to the public is when the whole internet is shutdown which is impossible. This is why bitcoin is some time call the internet money.

[kryptqnick]

I would like to take up the points of an article published on Bitcoinist. (Even if some will say that this media is Pro-Bitcoin the points are the most important.)

1. Laws Can’t Be Written Against Bits and Bites
2. You Can’t Ban Open-Source Distributed Software
3. Bitcoin Can Be Broadcasted via Satellite
4. You can Send Bitcoin Via SMS
5. You Can’t Shut Down the Power Grid

Any regulation can't prevent us from using Bitcoin. Despite their attempt to keep an eye on the system, it is simply impossible for them to ban people using it. So why giving a fuck to "I'm afraid my country will ban Bitcoin!"
They have nothing to fully stop the ecosystem that is currently emerging.

Banning means officially forbidding to use it. They surely can do that, in my opinion. What they cannot do is, as was mentioned by some other members as well, prevent people from actually using it. In my country one social network is banned, but some people still use it. Russia not only banned but even tried to block telegram, but it wasn't effective.
Bans are still important, though, because not everyone is okay with facing penalties or even simply breaking the laws. If bitcoin were banned under death penalty, would you still use it? And what if the penalty was a big fine? The stricter the penalty, the less people will use it. For the community to thrive, we need it to be legal.

[squatter]

1. Laws Can’t Be Written Against Bits and Bites
2. You Can’t Ban Open-Source Distributed Software
3. Bitcoin Can Be Broadcasted via Satellite
4. You can Send Bitcoin Via SMS
5. You Can’t Shut Down the Power Grid

Any regulation can't prevent us from using Bitcoin. Despite their attempt to keep an eye on the system, it is simply impossible for them to ban people using it. So why giving a fuck to "I'm afraid my country will ban Bitcoin!"
They have nothing to fully stop the ecosystem that is currently emerging.

They can't enforce a ban effectively, but they can certainly hamper adoption. If a government officially prohibited its usage/ownership, I'm sure that driving it underground into the black market would hamper usage and adoption there. They could never really stop people -- we have encryption and there are simply too many of us. But you might be surprised how many people would fall in line if the government said so. I also think running mining operations at any real scale would be problematic under prohibition in that situation.

[munareal]

It is nice to know that one can use his Bitcoin with out hindrance. The Government of a country that is against Bitcoin can not stop its usage. Bitcoin will surely rule the world

[vv181]

Bitcoin will not be banned but will be traced.
~

Actually, Bitcoin is being traced, that is why centralized exchange wanting KYC, and that is the reason ant blockchain analysis companies exist. Bitcoin natures are a pseudonym. Right now, we need to put some extra effort to gain full privacy and anonymous using currency. At least, until the technologies somehow 'significantly improved'.

In other hands, I'd agree with @mjglqw and @squatter, Thanks to decentralized and open sources nature of Bitcoin, the network and the system can't be manipulated with any centralized entities, but it comes to other problems, we are as a community would definitely lag behind if the adoption process is being slowed down and prohibited by government.

[akamit]

If I'm not wrong then another point is missing "You can't shut down internet"

Nothing can stop Bitcoin IMO.
We already know some countries have banned Bitcoin but the usage of Bitcoin never got stopped from those countries?
Peoples of those countries are still using Bitcoin under the nose of governments with a high risk of getting arrested. However, those peoples pay higher fees in cashing out Bitcoin.

[hatshepsut93]

They can't enforce a ban effectively, but they can certainly hamper adoption. If a government officially prohibited its usage/ownership, I'm sure that driving it underground into the black market would hamper usage and adoption there. They could never really stop people -- we have encryption and there are simply too many of us. But you might be surprised how many people would fall in line if the government said so. I also think running mining operations at any real scale would be problematic under prohibition in that situation.

Srsly, with that kind of logic one could argue that you can't ban anything, and you can even trivially conclude that since crimes are illegal, yet people still commit them, then laws are useless. But the point of any ban is to deter usage, so bans should be judged by how effectively they deter when compared to no ban. An economic system like Bitcoin's, which relies on free markets would be seriously crippled if people wouldn't be able to easily exchange their coins and discover the price. A share of criminal usage will rise from today's 1% because law-abiding citizens wouldn't want to risk doing anything with BTC.

[Yakamoto]

I would like to take up the points of an article published on Bitcoinist. (Even if some will say that this media is Pro-Bitcoin the points are the most important.)

1. Laws Can’t Be Written Against Bits and Bites
2. You Can’t Ban Open-Source Distributed Software
3. Bitcoin Can Be Broadcasted via Satellite
4. You can Send Bitcoin Via SMS
5. You Can’t Shut Down the Power Grid

Any regulation can't prevent us from using Bitcoin. Despite their attempt to keep an eye on the system, it is simply impossible for them to ban people using it. So why giving a fuck to "I'm afraid my country will ban Bitcoin!"
They have nothing to fully stop the ecosystem that is currently emerging.

Well, technically speaking, they could start to target the IPs of network nodes and have those as blanket-banned, however, it would be a difficult process and trying to shut down a series of changing IPs simply wouldn't be sustainable for the government to do, even if there were multiple governments involved. Not to mention that it would be a good eye-opener for a lot of people when they see that governments try so hard to shut it down. There are some weak points within the network at large, however, because it is open-source there's nothing that can really be done aside from large attempts to censor it, as I mentioned.

China hasn't found a good way to ban Bitcoin yet, assuming they're trying to, and they're trying for the thousand-cuts approach based on the (maybe FUD) news I hear coming out of the country. If China can't ban it, I don't think many countries will even try to.

[bitbunnny]

I think we are talking about two different things here.
Bitcoin can't be banned as a technology because you can't prevent people for using it, it's available for everyone. But the other thing is that governments could put the use of Bitcoin out of the law so that it becomes illegal. So, basicly you could always use Bitcoin because all technologies, sofwares and devices are available to you but you will be doing it on illegal way if some governments adopts the law against Bitcoin.
To my opinion there is no fear of banning Bitcoin because most governments, at least in developed countries, are aware that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can't be marginalized anymore.