If your country does not allow the use of Bitcoin, what would you do?

[Daniel91]

and India has also stated that it has banned cryptocurrency by legislation.

Since I live in the EU I personally have no such worries but people living in countries like India where crypto is not legal (from what I have heard) have a big problem.

Pardon me, but both of these facts are outdated as of now. India has not banned cryptocurrencies as of now. There is a cryptocurrency bill lined up and India is taking inputs from various industry experts in order to regulate cryptocurrencies. I believe that the ill-informed and less literate media has been spreading the news that crypto is completely banned in India. A full crypto ban was never made in India. But yes, one committee has recommended that crypto be banned. But the government is yet to consider the same.

Further, in the past RBI (central bank) had issued notices to banks/forex brokers from maintaining accounts of people dealing with cryptocurrencies. However, the same was quashed by the Supreme Court and currently the RBI itself has quoted the Supreme Court order to state that there is no restriction on banks/forex brokers. This came after some banks were found to be denying services on the basis of the previous notification.

You can read the full history of proceedings over banning of cryptocurrency in India in my post

Okay, thanks for the correction. This is very good news for the crypto community in India and I'm happy about it.
In fact, I hope that the ban on crypto will not happen in any country in the world, because there really is no reason for that.

[jrrsparkles]

Okay, thanks for the correction. This is very good news for the crypto community in India and I'm happy about it.
In fact, I hope that the ban on crypto will not happen in any country in the world, because there really is no reason for that.

Actually government will simply follow what the committee recommended to them but for now they are serious economical crisis since the covid 19 so this bill has not been in their priority list to pass soon meanwhile they also allowed lot of exchanges to operate in India which includes Binance owned Wazirx exchange so this is going to be like cat and mouse race.

[BITCOIN4X]

When the state starts to ban it, it is certain that they have the legal power to arrest the perpetrators who violate it. If I was in your position, then I only have two options and that is to sell the mining equipment or leave it. But if the mining business is big, I might think that moving to a mining-friendly country is also worth considering as is China's mining farm business.

OP, can you explain to us what restriction you are facing in your country. Is it mining, using bitcoin as currency, trading or are you just imagining if there is a ban?

[worle1bm]

The government is the last and final authority to make any decisions and if they have passed law regarding btc usage then you have to abide with it because if found guilty you will have to the bear the consequences for the same so it's better to leave it for the time you can legally use it.Some other options are shift to the country where it is legal tender but only if you have too much of btc with you and other feasible factor must taken Into consideration.But certainly no government is going to explicitly ban bitcoin as they want it now so not much worries on that part but to contrary if something happens then live with that.

[traderethereum]

If bitcoin is prohibited in my country but my people can still have access to use bitcoin, I will still try to earn more bitcoin and save it because that will only a matter of time for my country to accept bitcoin.
I am okay if the mining is prohibited because I do not mine bitcoin so that will not be a problem.
But I wonder how my government will prohibit or ban bitcoin, although I know that they will have that way and easy to do that.
I hope that will not happen in my country because people in my country already joined bitcoin and they get the benefits from bitcoin.

[Woodie]

As far as I know my country found me using bitcoin. So if they became interested to know what the technology is all about and they found it not to be a contributor to it's revenue or whatever reasons and banned it. Tbh I wouldn't stop using it because the benefits outweigh the risks, hence I choose to go for risk.

[Coin_trader]

A few days ago, it was learned that El Salvador has set Bitcoin as legal tender, China has banned mining, and India has also stated that it has banned cryptocurrency by legislation. Recently, the German Fund Positioning Act allows investment in cryptocurrency, but in the past few days, I have seen a lot of discussions about whether Bitcoin is legal. What should I do if Bitcoin is prohibited in my country/region? If mining is prohibited, do I need to switch to a place that recognizes Bitcoin to continue mining?

If it ever happened I would not use bitcoin on the territory of my country.  Instead, I would go abroad to the land where BTC is allowed to use and spend my bitcoin there. The other option for me is to find friends  in countries with legitimate use of bitcoin and make the mutually profitable BTC-fiat swap.

Why go abroad if you can use Bitcoin without being notice by the government. Unless you are using your Bitcoin directly on banks then you should worry but there's a lot of alternatives that you can spend Bitcoin without any government interference like online payment and fund transfer to friend. It's too hassle to go outside your country border just to use Bitcoin though except if you have tons of Bitcoin in your pocket that can support your daily needs abroad.

[Upgrade00]

The other option for me is to find friends  in countries with legitimate use of bitcoin and make the mutually profitable BTC-fiat swap.

To do this, you may not need to find friends to trade with peer to peer platforms like hodhhodl or bisq allows users to connect and trade without having to directly go through a bank, the transaction would appear like any normal one with no trace to bitcoins. If you have a large stash and wish to convert to fiat, you'll likely have to do it over numerous smaller transactions.

It's too hassle to go outside your country border just to use Bitcoin though except if you have tons of Bitcoin in your pocket that can support your daily needs abroad.

Or if you own a mining rig and wish to keep it functioning.

[BIT-BENDER]

If it ever happened I would not use bitcoin on the territory of my country.  Instead, I would go abroad to the land where BTC is allowed to use and spend my bitcoin there. The other option for me is to find friends  in countries with legitimate use of bitcoin and make the mutually profitable BTC-fiat swap.

+ To your first advice on what to do, there are countries that it isn't that easy to get a pass into another country especially that of a developing countries, and even though, you some how have your way, creating bank account and details won't be that easy except there is a bitcoin ATM or an easier way to spend.
+The second advice to be is more accessible, but is there is any question on the trust then it isn't, although am in a country where crypto-currency is not celebrated but I haven't used any of these, peer2peer withdrawal has been seeing me through, trust is not something I easily do but have come to trust my peer2peer partner, I think the nearest best option to people from country facing the crypto-currency hate.

[passwordnow]

Understanding what are the coverage of that new rule if that happens in your country. Being knowledgeable is better before you take action and ask some of the opinions of the other people of the forum. It's a good question and that made me think if that happens where I am right now. But one thing for sure is that the government won't know that you're actually holding bitcoin if you're remaining to be a low key type of person and if you want to sell it, take a vacation outside of your country.

[Oceat]

If that was the case then you should know where to sell if you have Bitcoin but first know the rules and regulations first if it is illegal or banned from using since these two might have a different sentences if get caught. A lot of way you can make Bitcoin to work is if you can travel somewhere that didn't banned Bitcoin but of course, you will have to know or DYOR first on where country you should drop before travelling.

Lots of illegal things in this world yrt they were still in use and why is that? You should seek a conventional ways if you want some illegal to be legal since not every country banned Bitcoin from being used.

[sheenshane]

What should I do if Bitcoin is prohibited in my country/region?

There are too many ways to trade like buy and sell Bitcoin even though it was banned in your country, as mentioned by @Upgrade00 use P2P exchanges is much better to hide your identity and have a normal transaction for both parties.  For both Hodlhodl and Bisq, I prefer to use Bisq because it is very easy to use.

This is a very wrong move by the country to ban Bitcoin knowing the fact that this can't be ban and how they will ban code that runs through computers, its a fool, everyone can access it if they want to.

If mining is prohibited, do I need to switch to a place that recognizes Bitcoin to continue mining?

About this case, you need to switch to another country but transferring devices go outside in the country that implementing the ban is very hard to move your mining equipment.  I don't know what is the process of transferring equipment.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

What should I do if Bitcoin is prohibited in my country/region? If mining is prohibited, do I need to switch to a place that recognizes Bitcoin to continue mining?

Well I don't know the country you're from and it won't be nice if I'll publicly be telling you to disobey your government but here's the catch, what exactly do you want in life?. Do you wish to be financially free, if yes then you have to ignore some of the law by the so called government of yours that'll denied you that privilege. They never have your best interest at heart and that's just the truth.

They'll hide behind the excuse that Bitcoin isn't regulated or too volatile to denied many the opportunity of been financially free because that's what bitcoin does to you. It affects your mentality positively and makes you start thinking for yourself on how to handle your finances instead of relying on the banks to do it for you by saving with them.

If Bitcoin activities were to be banned because they can't ban Bitcoin itself then look for alternative to participate in the industry. If they ban centralized exchanges from operating them make us of VPN or decentralized exchanges.

[suzanne5223]

@Robinson66, no government in the world can totally ban the use of Bitcoin and they can only ban something they are in control of.
If Bitcoin is prohibited in your country, all you need is use strong VPN and trade p2p exchanges but if you have the money you can relocate to the place where Bitcoin is recognized and continue with your mining.

[RapTarX]

It's up to you if you are mining personally with one or two devices but if you are planning bigger; creating a mining farm, you must switch to a country where mining is legal. There are few countries where mining is totally illegal and so does the usage of bitcoin. There's a difference between prohibited and not legal tender. If it's prohibited in your region, I guess you would rather stay away from it.

[famososMuertos]

...//...:

You have to find out what the prohibitions are in reference to bitcoin, the prohibitions are not absolute, sometimes they are partial or referred to certain commercial transactions, bitcoin is still a digital asset like many others that exist in the world.

At the moment you carry out a commercial transaction with bitcoin, such as using it as a means of payment (formal currency) or simply converting it to Fiat, you may be committing a crime, or perhaps you just have to pay taxes.

You cannot be guided by inconsistent comments, which are repeated and repeated, becoming an editorial line that is not always 100% fulfilled. Using the term bitcoin is not legal, it can be accompanied by certain conditions that make it legal for some things and not authorized for others.

So find out well the rules of your country and simply abide by its regulations.

[Smartvirus]

I'll simply use Bitcoin for every purpose or what ever reason I could use it for when chanced, that's wtf I would do. History fron the series of occurances we've noticed have thought us that, bitcoin cannot be completely banned by a nation. Iys decentralized and far beyond government policies and control as to that effect, some aspects of it night be banned or regulated successfully but, not to the side that really matters. Bitcoin is freewill and as such, there would always be those that would still use Bitcoin even in a highly regulated environment. Humans are designed to be that way, stubborn, especially when it's got to do with an infringement of our freewill. Luckily for us, we've got p2p system that sidelines the institutions.

[Fortify]

A few days ago, it was learned that El Salvador has set Bitcoin as legal tender, China has banned mining, and India has also stated that it has banned cryptocurrency by legislation. Recently, the German Fund Positioning Act allows investment in cryptocurrency, but in the past few days, I have seen a lot of discussions about whether Bitcoin is legal. What should I do if Bitcoin is prohibited in my country/region? If mining is prohibited, do I need to switch to a place that recognizes Bitcoin to continue mining?

What usually happens when you decide to break the law in your country? Will the police come to arrest you, confiscate your stuff and have the courts sentence you jail? Or will they knock on your door and demand a bribe or just straight up steal your stuff to give to their friends? It seems foolish to continue mining it any jurisdiction where the government has clearly banned it and the consequences should be obvious. The world has existed long before cryptocurrency came along, so it is not exactly required to function in daily life, you may simply need to move into a different profession if you want to stay in countries where it is no longer allowed - these are things that only you can decide.

[kawetsriyanto]

I live in a country where Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are legal as a commodity, as digital assets, trading and investing in the regulated exchanges by the countries, with our own risk-taking.
but, at once, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are also illegal if we use them for payment, because, payment method in our country is only a means of "money", and crypto is not considered as "money".
So, what do I do?
So far, I only follow the rules, using them for trading and investing and it works very well. No need to force using crypto as a payment method.
And about your case of mining is illegal in your country, I do really think, why do you need to switch to other countries? Is it that easy to do that?
You may need to choose other ways likely having a partnership with a trusted person in a country where mining is legal?
Or, you can change your strategy in crypto, by not mining at this time?

[sapnu]

Here in our country, bitcoin almost got banned due to its much popularity that happened way back 2017 or 2018 and everyone got alarmed and though it was just a scam. Later on, the issue was forgotten and the government stopped paying attention to it. If in case bitcoin really got banned in our country, I will still find ways on how I can still access it or if I can afford moving to another country where they regulate the use of it, I will probably do so. I have huge faith over my investment so I wouldn't let anyone stop me without even trying to outplay them.