Why haven't governments illegalized bitcoin transactions?

[Rozita]

I have heard some stories about making bitcoin transactions illegal. It's all been a humor and I don't think any government have officially made bitcoin transactions illegal. Why is that?
Many governments are trying to regulate bitcoin, control exchanges and force people to be authorized. But I am sure government wish bitcoin was not created and there was no trouble of regulating bitcoin. They  prefer their fiat to any other currency.
Why no government have made bitcoin transactions illegal?
I think they want to avoid creating an underground market.They don't want bitcoin to be traded like Alcohol and drugs. They have to accept bitcoin as they cannot stop a decentralized network and now they can only try to regulate it. Do you agree with me? Is there any other things have caused governments to not make bitcoin illegal?

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[samcrypto]

That’s to create FUD in the market and if you heard many news about banning bitcoin, I am sure that the government has no final decision about that thing. They know the pros and cons of bitcoin, and the advantages are working well that’s why they can’t fully banned bitcoin, this is what I see regarding the situation.

[Lolox]

The government is still reviewing Bitcoin regulations. Each country already has a valid currency to use every day. Even if you make a buy and sell transaction using a valid currency, you can be hit by a criminal.

Like Bitcoin because the system can not be set up and everyone in the world can access it. Of course, the government can not regulate the use of funds from the Blockchain system. Nowadays it is still debated and hopefully in this country Bitcoin is increasingly able to thrive.

[Yamifoud]

With all have that talks already and the government are looking into the most convenient place that their people would stay. Legalizing crypto isn't a big problem but concerning how it creates a drama and losses to their citizens, it actually holds the legalization process.

It will found great that even crypto isn't legalized but our country never been thinking of banning it. We can still enjoy using crypto.

[romero121]

In most of the countries bitcoin isn't recognized or supported by the government, but there is no legal opposing. This means bitcoin and its need has been understood and there is continued try to identify whether it is required for the growth or not. In other way as it is P2P they can't control it and so just making the transaction illegal government isn't gonna get anything big.

Very importantly very few countries like Japan have taken strong decisions on the use of cryptocurrencies making themselves to be the leader, because some day this is gonna get used by people which is the truth. Rather than competing later it is good to adopt it earlier and be the leader.

[mk4]

I think it's pretty much because they haven't made a final decision yet. As seen on the senate talks weeks/months ago, the opinions of the senate representatives are still all over the place; with some even recognizing bitcoin as an actual store of value(Jerome Powell).

I suggest looking up the talks on YouTube if you're interested.

[avikz]

I have heard some stories about making bitcoin transactions illegal. It's all been a humor and I don't think any government have officially made bitcoin transactions illegal. Why is that?
Many governments are trying to regulate bitcoin, control exchanges and force people to be authorized. But I am sure government wish bitcoin was not created and there was no trouble of regulating bitcoin. They  prefer their fiat to any other currency.
Why no government have made bitcoin transactions illegal?
I think they want to avoid creating an underground market.They don't want bitcoin to be traded like Alcohol and drugs. They have to accept bitcoin as they cannot stop a decentralized network and now they can only try to regulate it. Do you agree with me? Is there any other things have caused governments to not make bitcoin illegal?

Check your facts first! There are many governments in the world that have made the bitcoin transactions officially illegal. Even though they are mostly from 3rd world but some examples are Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador etc. and there are some more countries.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory

Governments definitely want to curb the illegal usage of cryptos but they also understand that it is impossible to enforce a blanket ban on bitcoin or any other crypto transactions due to its nature of operation. Some developed countries like Japan or Germany have studied the crypto properly and provided a framework to curb the illegal usage and promote legal usage of bitcoin. There are some countries as mentioned above, taken the easier route to ban instead of providing a proper framework. So it is incorrect to say that no countries have made bitcoin illegal, there are examples!

[Mpamaegbu]

I have heard some stories about making bitcoin transactions illegal. It's all been a humor and I don't think any government have officially made bitcoin transactions illegal.

That marked in bold is my way of showing emphasis. So, you really don't think so? Then what do we call what goes on in China and the Chinese government's altitude towards the use of Bitcoin? To ban something simply means to declare it illegal, isn't it?

[maxreish]

While other governments allowed the usage of bitcoin, there are still governments that are hesitant to it especially the bitcoin's transactions that are untraceable. I have never heard of the illegalization of bitcoin transactions, but since bitcoin is decentralized governments hardly do that. I do think they are just concerned with the privacy matter of bitcoin. But with the overall, it's been an issue for some government to ban bitcoin since it was highly use to do illegal activities and can be also used the blockchain internal usage of it in a positive way.

[adaseb]

Like 2 posts above me, there are certain countries where its actually illegal to own and transact Bitcoin. Most first world nations however haven't made Bitcoin illegal.

The governments realise that its pretty much a P2P node network and even if its banned in an entire country the blockchain will still exist in another. Its what makes Bitcoin ... Bitcoin pretty much. That no country can stop it.

So governments instead have set rules to regulate it and that is why its possible for large exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, etc to stay in business. They bring in lots of profit, people pay taxes, everybody is happy. Governments know that most crime happens anyways with fiat anyways and Bitcoins crime is in very low numbers. Currently bitcoins main use is speculation.

[Kakmakr]

Did the Prohibition on alcohol, stop people from trading and selling illegal alcohol in the USA? No, it did not... because the people started doing this illegally on the Black markets. The USA quickly realized that they were missing out on millions of dollars in tax income every year, because no tax was paid for all alcohol that was sold on the black market.

The same thing will happen when governments ban Crypto currencies. The technology is decentralized and virtually unstoppable, so people will just take this underground and the government banning bitcoin will lose out on all the tax income that they would have received, if it was legal. 

[elda34b]

I still don't get the goal of prohibiting Bitcoin transactions. Do they want to make sure that all purchases use fiat? What is the purpose?
It's also tough to monitor and 'ban' transactions on the network level. You'd need to control the network, and that means owning more than 60% hash rate, which would be very costly.

As for the cases in several countries like mentioned above, I believe the 'ban' translate into it's prohibited to exchange, run, or use crypto exchange platform, so there's no easy and centralized way to liquidate your Bitcoin to fiat. This is easier to do. They don't have to use as much money as when they control the network.

[kryptqnick]

Bitcoin is still very new, so it's hard to make a decision now. It's still not clear how many people are going to use it in the future and what is the best way to regulate it. I think that most of the countries wait for a unified strategy for the top countries or at least wait to see which regulations in other countries have what impact. When something starts to stand out as the must effective policy, others can adopt it rather fast.

[meanwords]

I have heard some stories about making bitcoin transactions illegal. It's all been a humor and I don't think any government have officially made bitcoin transactions illegal. Why is that?
Many governments are trying to regulate bitcoin, control exchanges and force people to be authorized. But I am sure government wish bitcoin was not created and there was no trouble of regulating bitcoin. They  prefer their fiat to any other currency.
Why no government have made bitcoin transactions illegal?
I think they want to avoid creating an underground market.They don't want bitcoin to be traded like Alcohol and drugs. They have to accept bitcoin as they cannot stop a decentralized network and now they can only try to regulate it. Do you agree with me? Is there any other things have caused governments to not make bitcoin illegal?

Check your facts first! There are many governments in the world that have made the bitcoin transactions officially illegal. Even though they are mostly from 3rd world but some examples are Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador etc. and there are some more countries.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory

Governments definitely want to curb the illegal usage of cryptos but they also understand that it is impossible to enforce a blanket ban on bitcoin or any other crypto transactions due to its nature of operation. Some developed countries like Japan or Germany have studied the crypto properly and provided a framework to curb the illegal usage and promote legal usage of bitcoin. There are some countries as mentioned above, taken the easier route to ban instead of providing a proper framework. So it is incorrect to say that no countries have made bitcoin illegal, there are examples!

Maybe he is talking about the government in the western countries like america? because I'm sure that some countries are avoiding the transaction of crypocurrency.

Regarding the issue. There are benefits to using cryptocurrency in the economy and those countries that are utilizing it are reaping it. There's really not much that the government could do though. Even if they illegalized Bitcoin, people would still find a way to use. To that in mind, using it instead of preventing its use is more beneficial to them. It's not like Bitcoin is harmful to people. It just depends on how people use it. Just my thought.

[ololajulo]

The Government cant out-rightly control the bitcoin transaction but can control the bitcoin-fiat transaction, which is where most of the countries and bank stand.

[figmentofmyass]

I have heard some stories about making bitcoin transactions illegal. It's all been a humor and I don't think any government have officially made bitcoin transactions illegal. Why is that?

a couple small governments like algeria and morocco actually have. you can see legal breakdown by country here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country_or_territory

for the most part though you're right, and i think it's primarily for two reasons:

1. governments are competing to attract taxable businesses. the cryptocurrency services/trading sector is already a multi-billion dollar industry. governments want a piece of that, and taking the prohibition approach would just hand lots of potential economic growth to other countries.

2. they don't want to look impotent. most governments are smart enough to know by now that they can't effectively enforce prohibition of bitcoin usage. passing laws they can't enforce will only make them look weak in the eyes of their citizens.

[funchiestz]

I have heard some stories about making bitcoin transactions illegal. It's all been a humor and I don't think any government have officially made bitcoin transactions illegal. Why is that?

We can't know that. If they want, they can and we can't know it.

Many governments are trying to regulate bitcoin, control exchanges and force people to be authorized

I don't think so. I think almost all countries are following the developments closely. As far as we know, no one has yet to prepare a full legal regulation.

[carter34]

Fiat is the reason that bitcoin is still in the level of regulation that it is. Every government likes monopoly in the control of its people and currency therefore, it will take a lot of time for pronouncements to be made on bitcoin in my opinion

[dothebeats]

They can easily categorize any bitcoin transactions illegal, the thing is there is a lot of potential for them to use it/benefit from it by leaving it as is. One thing is for taxes, the other one is, well, catching big fishes and keeping the money to themselves. They are constantly seeking for regulations to engulf bitcoin that can give them the edge all the while pretending to be as caring and open with any advancements that will help the community and the development of the crypto itself. Also, even if they were successful in making tx illegal, underground economies would still persist and they cannot do something about it, so yeah, they'll just let it slip and look for things to exploit its existence.

[Emmycool]

It due to every country already have valid currency 💵 used to do any transaction and the Bitcoin is not really too or much stable because of it rise and fall 🍁