What if governments make Bitcoin centralized?

[Molinology]

If the governments do look in that direction, Bitcoin may gain even more trust. It would lead to growth and adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptos beyond current limits.

[D-law]

Laughing out loud, good thing your topic clearly says "What if "
This cannot happen, a government that gets nothing completely from.bitcoin.
For a government that wants the rich to be richer ? Poor to remain poor ?
They will never accept it with much consideration and policies.

[TelolettOm]

I never think that Bitcoin can be made centralized. Bitcoin is decentralized.
Although when we are using Bitcoin, trading it on exchanges and other activuties rekated in Bitcoin, we need to do through the centralized exchanges and others, it doesn't mean that the Bitcoin centralized, does it?
How can we exactly track the Bitcoin from one wallet and others? Moreover centralized relates to controled systems. How do the governments will take the full controls of al transactions in the world wide of Bitcoin?

[Akash1243]

Governments can only make more regulations and laws on how exchanges can operate like KYC requirements and etc.They cannot directly control bitcoin blockchain and even if they try to control bitcoins by 51% attack, the mining power needed to compete with the network would require enormous amount of money to acquire mining hardware capable of doing this 51% attack.

[Abiky]

IMO government already has made BTC a bit centralized through KYC based centralized exchanges like Binance. Melania Trump has recently launched her own painting as NFT, this shows that top officials have faith in BTC but when they are in power they cant support crypto because of government policy.

Exactly. Forcing KYC through centralized exchanges only makes matters worse, as governments will be able to track and trace crypto users with ease. It completely defeats the purpose of crypto/Blockchain tech (which is eliminating the middleman or third-parties from the system). Some would say that you can always use decentralized exchanges to get access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but their lack of liquidity/trading volume makes people look elsewhere. Not to mention, most DEXs require a certain level of technical knowledge to be able to use them properly. Centralized exchanges have a better user experience, so people will choose them even if they have to give their identities in return.

Sadly, Bitcoin's supply is largely controlled by big players on the market, effectively turning into an "unequal" cryptocurrency. Governments can easily take control of centralized exchanges in order to grab a huge portion of Bitcoin's supply. And don't get me started on controlling mining companies like Bitmain, Canaan, etc. It'll be up to the community to help prevent Bitcoin from becoming a full-fledged centralized cryptocurrency. As long as decentralization and censorship-resistance is prioritized, there should be nothing to worry about. Just my opinion

[Wawa2013]

I never think that Bitcoin can be made centralized. Bitcoin is decentralized.
Although when we are using Bitcoin, trading it on exchanges and other activuties rekated in Bitcoin, we need to do through the centralized exchanges and others, it doesn't mean that the Bitcoin centralized, does it?
How can we exactly track the Bitcoin from one wallet and others? Moreover centralized relates to controled systems. How do the governments will take the full controls of al transactions in the world wide of Bitcoin?

It is impossible for the government to make Bitcoin centralized, because it is impossible for the government to control all Bitcoin transactions  on
the internet. Therefore, if there is a country that prohibits the use of Bitcoin, that country cannot prevent its residents from using Bitcoin.
I have a friend who lives in a country where Bitcoin is banned, but my friend can still own and use Bitcoin. That proves Bitcoin is decentralized,
this is what makes Bitcoin able to give users the freedom to manage their own finances without a third party. The government can only regulate
exchanges by requiring KYC, while not all exchanges require KYC procedures, although I know nowadays most of the exchanges enforce KYC.
Then we can make Bitcoin transactions without going through exchanges. That's why I said it was impossible for the government to make
Bitcoin centralized.

[bhooscream]

It is impossible for the government to make Bitcoin centralized, because it is impossible for the government to control all Bitcoin transactions  on
the internet. Therefore, if there is a country that prohibits the use of Bitcoin, that country cannot prevent its residents from using Bitcoin.

I remembered one thing that one of the people in my country governance said that Bitcoin will not be a legal tender or a currency in our country, the reason is because: they cannot control Bitcoin, Bitcoin cannot be centralized. Even they may be possible, the ways are too complex and complicated so that they will prefer not to control Bitcoin.
Maybe this reason also becomes the reasons here, Bitcoin will never be centralized, who will control? Who will make it centralized? Under world bank? FBI or who?
that is why Bitcoin is still decentralized.

[gloriamartin]

I do not think any government will be able to make bitcoin centralized as it is based on block chain technology. That is the prime reason bitcoin will maintain its transparency. 

[Abiky]

It is impossible for the government to make Bitcoin centralized, because it is impossible for the government to control all Bitcoin transactions  on
the internet. Therefore, if there is a country that prohibits the use of Bitcoin, that country cannot prevent its residents from using Bitcoin.
I have a friend who lives in a country where Bitcoin is banned, but my friend can still own and use Bitcoin. That proves Bitcoin is decentralized,
this is what makes Bitcoin able to give users the freedom to manage their own finances without a third party. The government can only regulate
exchanges by requiring KYC, while not all exchanges require KYC procedures, although I know nowadays most of the exchanges enforce KYC.
Then we can make Bitcoin transactions without going through exchanges. That's why I said it was impossible for the government to make
Bitcoin centralized.

It's a good point. But what if governments control a large portion of Bitcoin's circulating supply? Then it wouldn't be called "decentralized" anymore. With a limited supply of just 21 million coins, it's easy enough for governments to hoard most of the coins across exchanges for complete control of the Blockchain. Of course, miners are the ones who're in-charge of the network's consensus. But the concentration of Bitcoin's supply on the hands of the government will only cause unnecessary conflicts in the long run. Things would've been different if Bitcoin were an inflationary cryptocurrency like Dogecoin.

At least the code is open source, so it's easy enough for the community to create a new coin in case Bitcoin becomes compromised. As long as decentralization is prioritized, Bitcoin will last a lifetime. Just my thoughts