is Saylor sued by Washington (DC) an attack to BTC?

[bittraffic]

The attorney general of the District of Columbia (DC) Karl Racine believed Saylor was moving to different states every few months to evade income tax. 183 days living in a state will be subjected to paying tax but moving to somewhere before the required days as a resident makes him clear. Saylor lives in a Washington penthouse while actually a resident of Florida and sometimes moves to Virginia. I'm however not very sure of this info as I was just reading the news from crypto news sites.

In some comments I've read it's an attack on Bitcoin. They first sanctioned Tornado Cash and accounts are to be frozen, now they start with the biggest crypto personality Micheal Saylor. What are your comments about it, are Bitcoiners next?

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[mk4]

Re: is Saylor sued by Washington  (DC) an attack to BTC?

Not impossible, but meh that's too far of a stretch imo. It's not even the first time[1] that the authorities pursued him for other reasons.


[1] https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2000-186.txt

[pooya87]

Saylor's link to bitcoin is a pretty weak one, he has a company that is not even a bitcoin company, he also just owns some bitcoins. What you explained is not even bitcoin related but a tax evasion related issue which is not about taxes related to bitcoin either!
How can this even begin to be about an attack to BTC?!

[Minecache]

I just read this as well, all the news is posted by Racine on his Twitter and Saylor has yet to have any comment on the matter. But I don't see they are targeting bitcoin, if the news is true it will affect MicroStrategy more than bitcoin, Saylor is also just a bitcoin fan and bitcoin holder is not someone who can control bitcoin or impact bitcoin. This is Saylor's personal story and it has nothing to do with bitcoin.

[2stout]

Highly doubt it, can't see him being sued because of Bitcoin.  Is it possible he opened himself to more scrutiny because of Bitcoin- perhaps; however, the suit isn't about Bitcoin but rather taxes not paid due to attempting to cheat residency.

[OgNasty]

I’d say it’s a warning shot. There are reports they also have been investigating CZ from Binance. They’re giving us a little sneak peak of what Joe Biden hired the 87,000 IRS agents to do. They’re training the stormtroopers as we speak.

[worle1bm]

Not a attack on bitcoin I would say because he has been charged with the income tax evasion and you will find these type of allegation against company people preety common as there are many legal compliance that needs to be fulfilled and he is facing that only.If the company put some charges like investing funds into btc was not good and company position got disturbed then it would be btc related but what you have mentioned is not.

[mk4]

How can this even begin to be about an attack to BTC?!

Almost anything that very mildly affects Bitcoin is an attack on Bitcoin, apparently. You usually see it from people who aren't that confident and is insecure with their BTC investment.

[P2PECS]

In some comments I've read it's an attack on Bitcoin.

An attack on Bitcoin? Don't make me laugh.

If one of these days there's an attack on Bitcoin you'll know what it is.

If mining is banned in the US and other countries, as it happened in China, you will know what an attack on Bitcoin is.

If legislation is passed to make all Bitcoin transactions KYC, you will know what a Bitcoin attack is.

These measures and others that would be a real attack on bitcoin, would not be 100% effective, because no matter how much they are banned there will always be miners and P2P transactions, but if those two things happen in a short period of time you would really know what is an attack on bitcoin.

How can this even begin to be about an attack to BTC?!

Almost anything that very mildly affects Bitcoin is an attack on Bitcoin, apparently. You usually see it from people who aren't that confident and is insecure with their BTC investment.

This.

[NeuroticFish]

I've read it's an attack on Bitcoin.

I think that I've said it somewhere else too: imho it's not (yet!) an attack to bitcoin, but it can be used for attacks against bitcoin and also to bring back into actuality the "bitcoin is illicit money" narrative.

[mk4]

I think that I've said it somewhere else too: imho it's not (yet!) an attack to bitcoin, but it can be used for attacks against bitcoin and also to bring back into actuality the "bitcoin is illicit money" narrative.

This is towards Saylor himself though, not necessarily at MicroStrategy if I understand correctly.

But I could definitely see the normies affiliating Saylor doing fraudulent things(if actually proven) to Bitcoin being used for fraud even if it's the case that bitcoin wasn't even used by him. It's the fudsters wet dream.

[NeuroticFish]

This is towards Saylor himself though, not necessarily at MicroStrategy if I understand correctly.

From what I've read (eg. on Financial Times) MicroStrategy is also considered involved, for helping/covering Saylor's actions.
See: https://www.ft.com/content/b356290d-a9c2-4ed2-8852-7f2d0c080f1c

The lawsuit against Saylor and MicroStrategy

alleges that MicroStrategy was aware that Saylor lived in Washington for more than half the year [...] and conspired to help him evade taxes

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

Saylor's link to bitcoin is a pretty weak one, he has a company that is not even a bitcoin company, he also just owns some bitcoins. What you explained is not even bitcoin related but a tax evasion related issue which is not about taxes related to bitcoin either!
How can this even begin to be about an attack to BTC?!

You equally have a point here, because this issue is relatively a tax related issue and has nothing to do with Bitcoin, because as a citizen, everybody could own Bitcoin, but it is a must to pay your tax when due, as that's the way government generate funds to provide basic amenities.  So the best decision will be for Saylor to equally avoid moving to different states every few months to evade income tax, or equally just pays his tax when due and if he still gets sued, then we will know it's equally Bitcoin related

[Pmalek]

I don't look at it that way. If he hasn't paid his taxes and is finding ways how to avoid that, it matters very little if he owns bitcoin or not. We can think what we want about taxes, but it's a law like any other and has to be respected. If not, be willing to face the sanctions.

We can discuss whether or not he came under scrutiny because of his company's appreciation of the technology and maybe some other folks who are doing the same aren't being investigated, but tax evasion has always been a serious thing, not just in the US.   

[Baofeng]

I don't think so, its was more on attack on him as tax evader citizen and not on him being a bitcoin enthusiast. And if you look at the case, it stretch far back before he gets involved himself into BTC.

It all started when a whistle blower started to file a case against him, because he is bragging that he didn't have to pay tax that way because his residence is in Florida where in fact he lives in the DC are for years before his bitcoin investment.

[Zlantann]

I don't look at it that way. If he hasn't paid his taxes and is finding ways how to avoid that, it matters very little if he owns bitcoin or not. We can think what we want about taxes, but it's a law like any other and has to be respected. If not, be willing to face the sanctions.

We can discuss whether or not he came under scrutiny because of his company's appreciation of the technology and maybe some other folks who are doing the same aren't being investigated, but tax evasion has always been a serious thing, not just in the US.   

If the report is true that he was intentionally invading tax, then that action is really immoral. Its quit disheartning to see these high-earning CEO still want to cheat the state of revenue that would be used to improve the lives of the people. I am sure the that the income tax of employees of MicroStrategy are withdrawn regularly from their wages. The law has no respect for anybody and his connection to Bitcoin should not be used as the reason for the attack if he is guilty. If he is innocent, he has nothing to fear, but he is not let him face the punishment. My only reservation is that his actions might just give all these anti-Bitcoin forces another opportunity to link Bitcoin with tax invaders.

[Darker45]

I'm not fully aware of all the particulars of this case, but if it's simply moving from one state to another before the 183 days expire, then it is not really tax evasion but simply a case of tax avoidance which is completely legal.

But is there any billionaire who religiously pays his/her tax dues?

Anyway, the case is against Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy and not because they have Bitcoin or they are supporters of Bitcoin but because they allegedly failed to pay the right amount of taxes. So it's not about Bitcoin, at least as far as it appears in the open. Whether or not there are Bitcoin-related ulterior motives, we can only guess.

[hugeblack]

If the attack on people (no matter who they are) is an attack on Bitcoin and affects it, then it will be a central currency.
I don't know what the strange link is between Tornado Cash and Saylor, but any attempt to link them is a media propaganda to attract more views and sell ads.

[joniboini]

I've already seen a few Twitter threads talking and connecting the dots to BTC so quickly after the news is released. The story is so easy to spin, I'd rather ignore them or just use it as a data for my trades. If it has no effect then I'd just forget it, if it does, even if the reasoning is ridiculous, there's no harm with acting accordingly. Not the first time the market will act so emotionally and irrationally, and won't be the last either.

[Lucius]

In some comments I've read it's an attack on Bitcoin. They first sanctioned Tornado Cash and accounts are to be frozen, now they start with the biggest crypto personality Micheal Saylor. What are your comments about it, are Bitcoiners next?

Bitcoin is under attack from the Gensis block to this day, but that does not mean that the incident with Saylor is something that can be characterized as some kind of special attack on Bitcoin. Saylor is not nearly as influential as some others (if we look at social networks), and if he owes $25 million in taxes, that's not something he personally or the company should worry about.

From what can be read, the prosecutor will have the difficult task of proving where Saylor stayed and for how long during the year, and it seems that his private jet and the pilot's statements will play a crucial role. One sarcastic comment says that it could be decided in a few days or hours, that is, whether the prosecutor will be able to prove whether Saylor spent more time sleeping on a pillow in Washington or in Florida

Bitcoiners next? Of course, the prosecutor will demand that all members of the forum be identified and that they be arrested and delivered to a secret location where they will be tried for anything they can think of. However, I hear that our savior Mr. Mars is building a big spaceship that will save everyone who accepts the woof-woof coin as the official currency on Mars 🚀