Biden treasury secretary nominee Yellen says "curtail bitcoin"

[Vishnu.Reang]

First of all, we can expect a massive increase in the M1 monetary supply during the next 4 years. Biden/Kamala are likely to follow extreme-leftist socialist governmental policies, in which banknotes are going to get printed like crazy. The value of USD will get devaluated and people will rush to invest in safe haven assets such as gold and bitcoin. Now the value of USD will be under threat, if the government doesn't act against these safe haven assets. I expect massive tax increases in gold purchases, and a defacto ban on Bitcoin.

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[Abiky]

The 'bitcoin is used for illegal activity' narrative is becoming less popular and using it as a means of attacking Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies shows how little the government knows or is willing to know about decentralized currencies. Regardless of their position on Bitcoin, they do not have the authority to curtail the network, they could declare it illegal and limit exchanges from accepting transactions from certain regions, but cannot prevent onchain transactions as they have no control on the blockchain.

I usually do not expect approval from government agencies as bitcoin contradicts the existing financial system, their attacks shows it is functioning the way it was designed to.

It's a tactic used by the government in order to scare away people from Bitcoin. No matter what they'll try to do, they'll fail in the long run. That's thanks to the decentralized and open source nature of Bitcoin. If the government wanted to succeed, they would've taken action within Bitcoin's early days. Now Bitcoin is too big to fail as it's widely distributed worldwide. The network is extremely healthy with a vast number of miners, and node operators supporting it every step of the way. There's practically nothing the government can do to put an end to crypto/Blockchain tech.

Nonetheless, Yellen's comments about Bitcoin are not reason of concern among many crypto enthusiasts. As long as Bitcoin remains decentralized and censorship-resistant, there should be nothing to worry about. Centralized exchanges will be the ones mostly affected by fierce regulations by the government. The rest will carry on as usual. People will ultimately buy/sell Bitcoin via decentralized exchanges or in-person if centralized exchanges become too restrictive. Transactions performed on-chain will be difficult (if not impossible) to block by the government. Just my thoughts

[squatter]

The Treasury Department -- which Yellen is about to oversee -- has more relevance. They can bring Bitcoin within the purview of existing MSB regulation. They can mandate strict reporting requirements for Bitcoin businesses so that spending or selling your bitcoins comes with onerous AML/KYC. They can work closely with the IRS to leverage new AML/KYC requirements into a tax enforcement and compliance program.

I have never used p2p , does it still go through a regulated exchange ? 
Starting to look scary

P2P exchanges have become subject to regulation too. LocalBitcoins began requiring KYC verification in 2018, and Paxful followed suit a year later. LocalCryptos is holding out, but being based in Australia, I'm not sure how long that will last.

You can check KYC, not me! for a running list of exchanges you can use without KYC.

[Sithara007]

Janet Yellen is a reptilian overlord working to destroy the freedom of all mankind.

These satanists will curtail and regulate anything that's within their power of control. Thus, the ticket to freedom is in creating systems fully resistant and immune to their influence and power.

With international borders becoming irrelevant nowadays, Yellen's actions would only result in large scale Bitcoin investors moving their assets to more friendly countries such as Japan and South Korea. After all, Bitcoin is a digital asset and one of its advantages is that it can be moved across international borders in a matter of few minutes. Yellen can threaten as much as she want (IMO, she should first wait for the confirmation as treasury secretary), but the simple fact is that Bitcoin can't be banned by government. Want to ban Bitcoin? Then you need to shut down the internet. It is plain and simple, but I guess Yellen will have difficulty in comprehending the facts due to the fact that she is a human-reptile hybrid.

[xcaret]

3 years ago I bought and sold BTC for cash . No one here asked my name .
I think you still can buy BTC at an atm, but to sell it to an exchange for cash , you now have to verify ( so they can report you to government ).

That very act of them bowing to government regulation, is prof government can step up regulations ,and exchanges will stay bowed down in submission.

I see no future in BTC, now that exchanges are controlled by governments.

[bryant.coleman]

3 years ago I bought and sold BTC for cash . No one here asked my name .
I think you still can buy BTC at an atm, but to sell it to an exchange for cash , you now have to verify ( so they can report you to government ).

That very act of them bowing to government regulation, is prof government can step up regulations ,and exchanges will stay bowed down in submission.

I see no future in BTC, now that exchanges are controlled by governments.

My problem with the KYC process is not about paying taxes. I want to protect my anonymity. And I don't want the government authorities to target me, since they know that I am a cryptocurrency user. Yellen has already stated that she would like to see Bitcoin banned by the government. At this time, no cryptocurrency user should be stupid enough to undergo the KYC process, so that the exchanges can provide your personal details to the government.

[uneng]

No doubts this new government flirts with globalism, anyway it would very bizarre if the top 1 world country, known for its fight for freedom and individual rights since a long time ago curtail bitcoin without any valid reasons while all the rest of the world is making good use of bitcoin with relatively low moderation from authorities. I doubt that is really going to happen, but if it really does, things are going very bad in the world and it could become an example to be followed by other countries ruled by the same ideological kind of government. The main prejudiced is the main average citizen, like always.

[20kevin20]

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It is indeed quite creepy that governments indirectly coordinate exchanges. KYC goes both ways usually though at ATMs, and the worst part is, they most likely will snap a pic of your face whenever you're using it. That's why (or at least one of the main reasons) the camera is placed at eye-level.

[ChrisPop]

It's hilarious. They can't say anything bad about Bitcoin even if they wanted. Their only two lines are "it is used for illegal activities" and "the energy used for maintaining the network is bad for the environment". If we make a proper in-depth analysis we would see how big of a burden inflation brings upon people especially in under-developed countries and how many inefficiencies and human deaths are caused by it. Energy is renewable, but human lives not.

[xcaret]

Janet Yellen has Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates cheering her on.

Maybe crypto cant be regulated but the exchanges already are.
It's only going to take the stroke of a pen to shut them all down.

[scottsanderman12]

Janet Yellen has Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates cheering her on.

Maybe crypto cant be regulated but the exchanges already are.
It's only going to take the stroke of a pen to shut them all down.

Yellen thinking about making cryptocurrency more transparent, since, in her opinion, it is used to finance terrorism

[Sithara007]

Yellen thinking about making cryptocurrency more transparent, since, in her opinion, it is used to finance terrorism

Let's not get fooled by this subhuman fossil. Her problem is not that Bitcoin is being used for terrorism. Her real problem is that Bitcoin provides a safe haven for those people who don't like the rapid devaluation of the United States Dollar. Biden is planning a series of stimulus measures, which will make the USD to lose much of its purchasing power. Now the duty of Yellen is to make sure that the Americans continue to use the US Dollar and they don't have any other choice available to them.

[Kakmakr]

The Bitcoin guy's "Buy Bitcoin" stunt is only now having an affect on Bitcoin, because Janet Yellen now have the power to "curtail" it's use. It comes down to a personal vendetta against one person who sabotaged one of her speeches when she was making a speech on television.  

The question is.... how effective are these regulations? Will these regulations push developers to create more decentralized markets for people to use bitcoins, without the influence of these regulations. Will Bitcoin go underground on Dark markets and create a secondary economy without taxes when it is banned?

Let's see how her revenge will backfire on her and the people who voted for them to get into power. (They might lose those votes, when it comes to the next election)  

[MCobian]

Janet Yellen can say anything about Bitcoin, but I'm sure Biden won't listen to her advice. Since Biden isn't going to go straight to all the other
people's advice either, definitely Biden do some research too. And will find all charges against Bitcoin to be untrue. For Bitcoin is always associated
with illegal activity is not a new issue, everyone also understands including the US government that fiat is more widely used as an illegal activity.
Here Biden's leadership is put to the test, will Biden do justice to Bitcoin.

[Abiky]

P2P exchanges have become subject to regulation too. LocalBitcoins began requiring KYC verification in 2018, and Paxful followed suit a year later. LocalCryptos is holding out, but being based in Australia, I'm not sure how long that will last.

You can check KYC, not me! for a running list of exchanges you can use without KYC.

That's because most P2P exchanges are centralized. It's easy enough to regulate something that's controlled by a single entity. But when you try to regulate something decentralized, you'll eventually fail in the long run. The is because there's no one you could hold accountable for their actions. Considering that governments don't have jurisdiction on every region of the world, the efforts of trying to regulate decentralized exchanges become in vain.

I believe that the same thing will happen with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the market today. Yellen's comments are all about scaring people from using Bitcoin on the top the US dollar. That's normal, since the government doesn't want to lose control over the mainstream economy. We should expect constant opposition to Bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies in the future. One thing for sure is that it will be easy enough to implement KYC/AML laws on centralized exchanges. But on decentralized exchanges, that's another story. And don't let me get started on in-person trading, and off-chain transactions. Eventually, governments will face the fact that it's impossible to regulate Bitcoin. It's too late for them to put an end to the revolution. If they would've wanted to stop Bitcoin, they should've done it in its early days. Now it's a matter of joining the Blockchain revolution or get left behind in the dust. Just my thoughts

[Argoo]

Yellen thinking about making cryptocurrency more transparent, since, in her opinion, it is used to finance terrorism

Let's not get fooled by this subhuman fossil. Her problem is not that Bitcoin is being used for terrorism. Her real problem is that Bitcoin provides a safe haven for those people who don't like the rapid devaluation of the United States Dollar. Biden is planning a series of stimulus measures, which will make the USD to lose much of its purchasing power. Now the duty of Yellen is to make sure that the Americans continue to use the US Dollar and they don't have any other choice available to them.

Most likely, her words that it is necessary to "cut" bitcoin and should be perceived so that she is afraid of the weakening of the dollar and at the same time strengthening the position of the cryptocurrency, and first of all bitcoin. If she uses the word "cut" bitcoin, it means that she is very far from the nature of a decentralized cryptocurrency. I would like to see how she will reduce bitcoin. This is absolutely unrealistic.
One of the reasons for the current rise in prices in the cryptocurrency market is that people are saving themselves from inflation of common currencies of states by investing in cryptocurrency.

[Silberman]

Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for treasury secretary, suggested on Tuesday that lawmakers "curtail" the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin over concerns that they are "mainly" used for illegal activities. Yellen's comments suggested the incoming Biden administration could be hostile to cryptocurrencies and ramp up regulation. Watchdogs around the world, from the European Central Bank to the UK's financial regulator, have recently expressed concerns about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-price-cryptocurrency-should-be-curtailed-terrorism-concerns-yellen-2021-1-1029985692

The authoritarians (socialist, fascist etc) know that something like bitcoin will curtail their ability to:
1. Print money to debase and secretly steal money from people through inflation.
2. Control all uses of money in order to shut down debate.
3. Take assets across borders preventing their ability to control it.

In short, bitcoin and p2p software will undermine their ability to control, rule, tax, and eventually destroy with their policies, the world.  Bitcoin gives people power over themselves, power to control their own destinies and the power-hungry elite do not like it.

I think we all knew this was coming, if anything I am surprised that they are attacking bitcoin so quickly when they have so much to solve, which tells me this is one of their priorities and I do not blame them, governments are seeing that they are slowly losing control over their economies and while gold will be an important player, new generations are going to use bitcoin to escape the effects of their policies and they are trying to take away that venue before it happens, but as we know they cannot do it, bitcoin was created as a decentralized  currency specifically to avoid censorship by the governments and they will find out that regulating bitcoin will be even harder as people begin to resist their policies.