Can Government Really Ban Crypto?

[ShowOff]

You can't ban something that is decentralized. Bitcoin has no central organization that the government can go and tell them to stop operating in their country. What they can do is impose laws that will make their citizens a criminal for using crypto currencies. But that still won't stop people from using crypto currencies. As long as people are using p2p transaction and no centralized financial institutions are involved, the government can't do shit to them. Look at those p2p torrenting where they pirate movies. Was the government able to stop p2p torrenting from hosting and downloading movies illegally? Nope.

I agree with some of the things you mentioned where someone caught using crypto would be considered a crime if it was committed in a country that has passed a total no-go law like China. It's true that P2P won't prevent transactions even in restricted countries, but the tougher penalties violators might face would increase the effectiveness of the rules for the better.

The government has the right to prohibit, so it will be different in each country. Some countries do not prohibit crypto to be traded or as an investment asset but some other countries completely ban and even ban all mining, trading or other activities.

[Oasisman]

This same thing will happen to countries that refuse to embrace crypto today.

Countries ban crypto because it gets bad information such as often crypto is used illegally activities but they forget that fiat is also an option.
The government ban crypto is very likely but will have difficulty tracking or stopping its citizens using crypto, I think the government can only prohibit crypto just in activities such as mining, trading or use as a means of payment limited to that country.
As long as they are connected to the internet everyone can still access and have it, so the government cannot completely ban.

Absolutely!
As long as you have an access to the internet internationally, you always can invest or trade with crypto regardless of the country's restrictions or prohibition. VPN will play a huge role for it.
Though the OP's comparison doesn't really relate to each others situation, but If a country doesn't want to engage and crypto and discourages it's citizens to get involved into it doesn't mean it would hurt the country's economic status.
While what happened to the Nokia story was a failed development of its OS compared to the android phones.

[poldanmig]

In my opinion, yes Government can ban cryptocurrency, but it will be limited in the country in which the government bans the crypto.
The government is power, they have the official ad full power to decide any laws in the country. And once the government has banned crypto, they may also make some punishment related to people who are still in the crypto actviities.
But once more, they can ban crypto, but they actually cannot limit every single activity done by the citizens. Because sometimes, some citizens still concern with crypto industry, but of course, it will not be released or revelaed. Because if they notify themselves in the crypto activities, they may get some punsihment.
As long as government or other people don't know that we are doing in the crypto world, it may be safe.
But exactly, this ban officially will limit the activities in the cyrpto world.

I agree with what you said, if the government actually has the power to ban crypto, but I don't think the government will fully be able to do that, because decentralized transactions will be very difficult to stop by anyone, maybe now the government just needs to at least limit its use crypto as an investment, so that the government can also take advantage of crypto for the benefit of improving the economy of its people.

[doomloop]

I agree with some of the things you mentioned where someone caught using crypto would be considered a crime if it was committed in a country that has passed a total no-go law like China. It's true that P2P won't prevent transactions even in restricted countries, but the tougher penalties violators might face would increase the effectiveness of the rules for the better.

The government has the right to prohibit, so it will be different in each country. Some countries do not prohibit crypto to be traded or as an investment asset but some other countries completely ban and even ban all mining, trading or other activities.

but the only problem is how you can access those p2p sites and what if its also banned in your country? But, let say you can be able to bypass it, we cant still be 100 percent sure that you are transacting with a normal user that only wants to trade his cryptocurrencies but what if that person you are transacting with is an asset of police, fbi, nbi or whatever you called it that are against this act.

The penalties are going to be heavy for sure. So, I do not think it is worth the risk but it will be better if we can wait till the cryptocurrencies are allowed on our country so that we can trade without worries and most importantly is we can spend the cryptocurrency that we obtain.

[xSkylarx]

In my opinion, yes Government can ban cryptocurrency, but it will be limited in the country in which the government bans the crypto.
The government is power, they have the official ad full power to decide any laws in the country. And once the government has banned crypto, they may also make some punishment related to people who are still in the crypto actviities.
But once more, they can ban crypto, but they actually cannot limit every single activity done by the citizens. Because sometimes, some citizens still concern with crypto industry, but of course, it will not be released or revelaed. Because if they notify themselves in the crypto activities, they may get some punsihment.
As long as government or other people don't know that we are doing in the crypto world, it may be safe.
But exactly, this ban officially will limit the activities in the cyrpto world.

I agree with what you said, if the government actually has the power to ban crypto, but I don't think the government will fully be able to do that, because decentralized transactions will be very difficult to stop by anyone, maybe now the government just needs to at least limit its use crypto as an investment, so that the government can also take advantage of crypto for the benefit of improving the economy of its people.

I believe the correct word is limiting, but I also believe it is banning because they will be closing sites on their IP, though this will be solved by VPN, but the point is that they are limiting the movement or process of bitcoin transactions, such as buying online or converting it to own fiat. Only a few countries typically prohibit the use of bitcoin because it could provide them with funds to help improve their economy.

[RealMalatesta]

I agree with some of the things you mentioned where someone caught using crypto would be considered a crime if it was committed in a country that has passed a total no-go law like China. It's true that P2P won't prevent transactions even in restricted countries, but the tougher penalties violators might face would increase the effectiveness of the rules for the better.

The government has the right to prohibit, so it will be different in each country. Some countries do not prohibit crypto to be traded or as an investment asset but some other countries completely ban and even ban all mining, trading or other activities.

I would guess that if you are really that much in trouble and worried, you could handle it with someone outside of your nation? You could even handle it from someone here? I mean if you trust the person here, or use some escrow to do it, then they could send you the money and you could withdraw it and then they could do whatever they want, even if they do a chargeback then it is fine.

If you want to, you could do gift cards as well, most of them would be hard to cash out, but there are some cash cards as well, or debit cards as well with money filled in them that you could spend. All in all, it is a very bad situation but it is not end of your crypto life if your nation bans crypto.

You could still continue, lose a bit of money to percentage while using, and still go on without too much problem or anyone stopping you. I did that back in the day and it was fine, not great, not like right now, a bit of useless work required but still not stopped.

[Gyfts]

They could, usually through the form of excessive taxation.

It'd be near impossible for them to monitor p2p BTC transactions, so they would work a ban in through economic regulation. They may force you to register any transactions you conduct so they can implement a tax. Bitcoin is treated as property in many places, and therefore the property's value fluctuate. If the government wanted to, they could force you to pay a tax on unrealized gains, merely for holding. Then what happens? Investors dump all their crypto, which accomplishes the same thing as a ban, less usage.

[romero121]

They could, usually through the form of excessive taxation.

It'd be near impossible for them to monitor p2p BTC transactions, so they would work a ban in through economic regulation. They may force you to register any transactions you conduct so they can implement a tax. Bitcoin is treated as property in many places, and therefore the property's value fluctuate. If the government wanted to, they could force you to pay a tax on unrealized gains, merely for holding. Then what happens? Investors dump all their crypto, which accomplishes the same thing as a ban, less usage.

This is a possible way through which government can restrict people from using bitcoin. One such has happened recently in India with a heavy taxation of 30% over the profit out of cryptocurrencies. However I feel that there will be loop holes that let people continue to use cryptocurrencies and generate profit. Maybe we will be restricted much from the bitcoin usage as a legal tender on businesses.

[stomachgrowls]

They could, usually through the form of excessive taxation.

It'd be near impossible for them to monitor p2p BTC transactions, so they would work a ban in through economic regulation. They may force you to register any transactions you conduct so they can implement a tax. Bitcoin is treated as property in many places, and therefore the property's value fluctuate. If the government wanted to, they could force you to pay a tax on unrealized gains, merely for holding. Then what happens? Investors dump all their crypto, which accomplishes the same thing as a ban, less usage.

This is a possible way through which government can restrict people from using bitcoin. One such has happened recently in India with a heavy taxation of 30% over the profit out of cryptocurrencies. However I feel that there will be loop holes that let people continue to use cryptocurrencies and generate profit. Maybe we will be restricted much from the bitcoin usage as a legal tender on businesses.

There would be always a loop hole and people would able to find those ways considering that you could still make transactions without being traced out thats why government couldnt really get rid of

it completely and even if they would impose 30% taxation but it wouldnt be enough for making its citizens to completely stop on engagement with crypto.

Yes, they could actually ban it but on the sense on dealing with platforms/companies attached or involvement to it but speaking technically then it wont be possible.

[Gyfts]

They could, usually through the form of excessive taxation.

It'd be near impossible for them to monitor p2p BTC transactions, so they would work a ban in through economic regulation. They may force you to register any transactions you conduct so they can implement a tax. Bitcoin is treated as property in many places, and therefore the property's value fluctuate. If the government wanted to, they could force you to pay a tax on unrealized gains, merely for holding. Then what happens? Investors dump all their crypto, which accomplishes the same thing as a ban, less usage.

This is a possible way through which government can restrict people from using bitcoin. One such has happened recently in India with a heavy taxation of 30% over the profit out of cryptocurrencies. However I feel that there will be loop holes that let people continue to use cryptocurrencies and generate profit. Maybe we will be restricted much from the bitcoin usage as a legal tender on businesses.

The loopholes are just tax evasion because there's a lack of enforcement. So for the investors that follow the law, I'd hope all of us, any taxes are hinderance to using crypto. And that's all that's needed.

Once you kick out major financial players of the crypto market, there isn't enough ordinary day-to-day users that would sustain its use. It's why mass adoption is important -- you implement high taxes (or whatever regulation, I use taxes as an example), crypto crashes.

Answer to the original post is yes, absolutely. Even if people manage to dodge the regulations, those folks are few and far between.

[Peanutswar]

On Nokia is one of the top tier phones before released the new now but of course, they surpass by the other mobile manufacturer and cannot up to the trend this is one of the reasons. The government has the right for their country what are the rules they need to do if they think the cryptocurrency is not healthy to them or makes the risk for their country they have the rights but of course, it has a process. The country that supports the use of crypto has a higher chance to adopt the innovations of the technology it depends if they want to adopt for their goods, to limit or to ban it's all about for their country decisions.

[Flexystar]

They might control it partially but they will never be able to ban the crypto. Not in this universe for sure. After celebreties and entrepreneurs getting involved into crypto at spectacular levels I don’t think government can do anything about it. I’m mentioning the former names because these are the elite group who are the supporters of electoral funds and campaign promoters. These billionaires and government would never go against each other.

Moreover, what to say about crypto. It’s free, publicly available so no they can’t really ban it.

[ShowOff]

but the only problem is how you can access those p2p sites and what if its also banned in your country? But, let say you can be able to bypass it, we cant still be 100 percent sure that you are transacting with a normal user that only wants to trade his cryptocurrencies but what if that person you are transacting with is an asset of police, fbi, nbi or whatever you called it that are against this act.

The penalties are going to be heavy for sure. So, I do not think it is worth the risk but it will be better if we can wait till the cryptocurrencies are allowed on our country so that we can trade without worries and most importantly is we can spend the cryptocurrency that we obtain.

Every action that violates the rules does have a risk, therefore severe sanctions will be effective to prevent violations of the law in a country, including sanctions if someone uses illegal currency in a country that prohibits it.

In my country, the government not only prohibits the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment but the government also prohibits the use of foreign currency. This means that trading can continue if the currency is converted to fiat “legitimate currency” so that no rules are violated.

[kaya11]

I personally don't think so, the shot above says it all, Any government banning crypto is like Nokia and Android, if you know the story, then you understand what I mean, but for those who don't know the story, I will Share a little about.

When Android came out and major phone companies like Samsung, Tecko, Infinix etc, started producing Android powered phones, Nokia being one of the biggest(if not actually the biggest) phone company at that time(was even bigger than Samsung) being over confident in herself refused to switch to Android powered phones, instead they opted for windows phones which close to no one uses.

This singular decision did not only cause Nokia to loose its number 1 place in the phone industry, the owner(s) of the company later lost(sold) the company to Microsoft.
And you all can agree with me that Nokia isn't doing well today as they did back in the days.

This same thing will happen to countries that refuse to embrace crypto today.

Unless they would make a bill regarding the use of crypto, that who shall ever caught using or in any case related to it shall face death penalty. I guess the people would go nuts if ever this would be approved. I guess not if only they would put restrictions and some sort of regulations, totally banning it would be difficult and their would be few people who would go far disregarding the laws and still use crypto regardless of the situation.

[laredo7mm]

I personally don't think so, the shot above says it all, Any government banning crypto is like Nokia and Android, if you know the story, then you understand what I mean, but for those who don't know the story, I will Share a little about.

When Android came out and major phone companies like Samsung, Tecko, Infinix etc, started producing Android powered phones, Nokia being one of the biggest(if not actually the biggest) phone company at that time(was even bigger than Samsung) being over confident in herself refused to switch to Android powered phones, instead they opted for windows phones which close to no one uses.

This singular decision did not only cause Nokia to loose its number 1 place in the phone industry, the owner(s) of the company later lost(sold) the company to Microsoft.
And you all can agree with me that Nokia isn't doing well today as they did back in the days.

This same thing will happen to countries that refuse to embrace crypto today.

If you want to know is it possible for the government to ban crypto then look at china and other countries where crypto is illegal. Are people from that region getting a hard time being in crypto? If yes then you have the answer.

In terms of decision banning, crypto is a bad idea. Evolution in human nature and society is correlated. Human society evolved with human nature. So if people want to enjoy the advantages of crypto then govt has to bend down one day.

[Rockstarguy]

Government can not ban cryptocurrency,  they can only restrict the banks from operating in cryptocurrency  exchange.  Their are countries  that banned the use of cryptocurrencies in there banks, but that have not stop citizens  from  buying  cryptocurrency. Like in the case of Nigeria,  after the government gave a ban on exchange of cryptocurrency  it didn't cause any affect in their country from citizens not having  access to it, rather it attracted many people to cryptocurrency more.

[doomloop]

but the only problem is how you can access those p2p sites and what if its also banned in your country? But, let say you can be able to bypass it, we cant still be 100 percent sure that you are transacting with a normal user that only wants to trade his cryptocurrencies but what if that person you are transacting with is an asset of police, fbi, nbi or whatever you called it that are against this act.

The penalties are going to be heavy for sure. So, I do not think it is worth the risk but it will be better if we can wait till the cryptocurrencies are allowed on our country so that we can trade without worries and most importantly is we can spend the cryptocurrency that we obtain.

Every action that violates the rules does have a risk, therefore severe sanctions will be effective to prevent violations of the law in a country, including sanctions if someone uses illegal currency in a country that prohibits it.

In my country, the government not only prohibits the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment but the government also prohibits the use of foreign currency. This means that trading can continue if the currency is converted to fiat “legitimate currency” so that no rules are violated.

This depends a bit on your nation as well. In my nations laws are a bit more "lax", like for example there are THOUSANDS of people who murdered someone and got away with it on parole, or had like 3-4 years jail time, because our jails are crowded as it is so they just let them be. And there are hundreds of journalists in the jail instead... Yeap, they put journalists in jail instead of murderers or rapists.

In a world like that, I am 100% sure that the law is a law as long as you can enforce it. For example if you ban crypto, and say that "anyone who ever owns even 1 satoshi will be in jail forever!!!" but then thousands still do it while only 3-4 gets jailed for it? I am sure people will keep doing it.

[Silberman]

Until now there has been no country that is strict and totally banned cryptocurrencies, this is because crypto brings benefits and can increase people's income so that the state also acts realistically, the thing I hear most often is that countries only ban cryptocurrencies for direct transactions or function like fiat.

That's right, even China, which is very strict about banning Bitcoin, can't stop the use of cryptocurrency in their country. Since crypto is already known and spread all over the world, it can no longer be removed from circulation, we will continue to see people transacting with crypto even though the government in each region makes strict rules against crypto.

Like most of the time things come down to incentives, if the penalties for using bitcoin are high and there is not much to gain then most people are going to follow the law and whatever restrictions it imposes on people, however if the economic situation of the world deteriorates even further then it is possible that people will begin to take more risks and use cryptocurrencies even if banned just because they have to do it to survive, so while governments cannot shutdown completely the usage of bitcoin they can restrict significantly under the right circumstances.

[teosanru]

Actually even if they don't ban crypto this meme would still remain the same as eventually, crypto is looking to take away their stronghold of power. So they are in this big flux when deciding about what to do and what not to. Moreover, the problem is even the countries that are banning cryptos want to use the technology behind it but are unable to frame a law whereby they can both ban cryptos and promote blockchain-based businesses. Now with the current market cap and current adoption that we have had I feel it's impossible to ban crypto at a global level, crypto has now become a part of our lives and is not going away.

[uneng]

but the only problem is how you can access those p2p sites and what if its also banned in your country? But, let say you can be able to bypass it, we cant still be 100 percent sure that you are transacting with a normal user that only wants to trade his cryptocurrencies but what if that person you are transacting with is an asset of police, fbi, nbi or whatever you called it that are against this act.

The penalties are going to be heavy for sure. So, I do not think it is worth the risk but it will be better if we can wait till the cryptocurrencies are allowed on our country so that we can trade without worries and most importantly is we can spend the cryptocurrency that we obtain.

Every action that violates the rules does have a risk, therefore severe sanctions will be effective to prevent violations of the law in a country, including sanctions if someone uses illegal currency in a country that prohibits it.

In my country, the government not only prohibits the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment but the government also prohibits the use of foreign currency. This means that trading can continue if the currency is converted to fiat “legitimate currency” so that no rules are violated.

This depends a bit on your nation as well. In my nations laws are a bit more "lax", like for example there are THOUSANDS of people who murdered someone and got away with it on parole, or had like 3-4 years jail time, because our jails are crowded as it is so they just let them be. And there are hundreds of journalists in the jail instead... Yeap, they put journalists in jail instead of murderers or rapists.

In a world like that, I am 100% sure that the law is a law as long as you can enforce it. For example if you ban crypto, and say that "anyone who ever owns even 1 satoshi will be in jail forever!!!" but then thousands still do it while only 3-4 gets jailed for it? I am sure people will keep doing it.

People will keep doing it because it's a calculated risk. The chances of success surpass the probability of ending caught. It's like those people who live in miserable countries and try entering first world countries illegaly. They know they can be arrested or even die on their way, but the uncertain of a better quality life, including all the risks involved, is preferable than having the certain of living on their homeland, as it doesn't proportionate any kind of development perspective, security, happiness and so on...

The same I could say about crypto and fiat. To not be able to deal with cryptocurrency nowadays heavily limits the financial personal development of an individual, since he wil be hostage of the fiat depreciative currencies and traditional banks' lobby.