If you were the government, how would you fight against bitcoin?

[Silberman]

It’s nearly an impossible task to completely stop people from using bitcoin. The government would have to spend a lot of resources and time to make it work. The most effective way which the governments have been using to prevent mass adoption of bitcoin is bad media representation of bitcoin. Bitcoin has been tainted by the media and called many bad names, a fraud, a Ponzi scheme, KGB tool, anything and everything has been said in the media to present bitcoin in a negative space. It worked for a while but now people are beginning to see through their BS

This is because despite their propaganda and how powerful it can be they cannot deceive people forever, especially now when people are suffering through massive inflation and governments have no solution at hand they can offer, so in that scenario is natural for people to begin to look for answers by themselves, and they found out that bitcoin is a tool that could allow to them to avoid or at least reduce somewhat the impact that inflation has on their savings.

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[BALIK]

It’s nearly an impossible task to completely stop people from using bitcoin. The government would have to spend a lot of resources and time to make it work. The most effective way which the governments have been using to prevent mass adoption of bitcoin is bad media representation of bitcoin. Bitcoin has been tainted by the media and called many bad names, a fraud, a Ponzi scheme, KGB tool, anything and everything has been said in the media to present bitcoin in a negative space. It worked for a while but now people are beginning to see through their BS

This is because despite their propaganda and how powerful it can be they cannot deceive people forever, especially now when people are suffering through massive inflation and governments have no solution at hand they can offer, so in that scenario is natural for people to begin to look for answers by themselves, and they found out that bitcoin is a tool that could allow to them to avoid or at least reduce somewhat the impact that inflation has on their savings.

Bitcoin was born shortly after the 2008 crisis and so far, this is the first time bitcoin has faced an inflationary economic crisis. Until now I think bitcoin has not fully exerted its anti-inflation feature as it was also hit hard during the last economic crisis and even more unlucky, this time coincides with a bitcoin bear cycle. If we hold bitcoin from now on and the next economic crisis, then I think bitcoin will really come into play. This time, it still doesn't work.

[Ahli38]

For whatever reason I have no intention of banning bitcoin completely if I were the government. I can expect good profits from bitcoin by regulating and taxing every trading transaction on a centralized exchange. In fact, this way both the government and trader alike make a profit rather than total ban on bitcoin.

Here's one I thought about because bitcoin isn't really a threat to fiat. Instead of banning it and preventing people from trading and investing, it would be much more to regulate it. Many world governments regulate it, so things aren't too bad.

And it seems that your idea has been widely implemented in several countries that are friendly to cryptocurrency and bitcoin. tax policy does make more sense. because it can bring benefits to countries that implement these policies. increasing income into the state treasury and of course by increasing the money in the state treasury, this money can be used for the needs of the state in building a prosperous country.

Most countries still debate about crypto, but some countries already consider crypto assets as commodities and not as a means of payment (except El Salvador). but it is also considered a positive thing. as an example, in my country Bitcoin and Crypto have been considered as commodities by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti). Sourch (klikpajak.id)

So that in Indonesia the crypto tax has been legally enforced. even some government officials are interested in building crypto projects with several universities in my country. however I will not name the project. and it goes to show that government and crypto shouldn't always clash. as if every government in a country is like anti-crypto. when in fact it is not like that.

and even if i was in a government position i would do the same as you and what my country has done.

[gabbie2010]

I don't think there is a government that can stop bitcoin 100%, isn't it better for the country to take care of things that are more important than bitcoin itself if one country has economic and security problems,
I think it's a waste of time if one government only focuses on fighting the existence of bitcoin

because Bitcoin cannot be fought and stopped, more and more people are adopting it every day

Yeah, not country or a government is able to stop it. I'll try to follow the footsteps of Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador. Surely it'll bring success to the country's economy in the long term. Also when we allow the people to benefit out of it, surely they'll pay the proper amount to the government. It is for the revenue the countries find possible ways to keep the users under control.

If I happen to be in the coridor of power in government I wouldn't stop or ban bitcoin rather I will formulate a policy that won't affect our local currency or monetary policy after adopting the use of bitcoin, of course some government officials are scare of the decentralized feature of bitcoin and how it will affect their banking operations or system if people are given a free will to use bitcoin for payment purposes especially for goods and services, how will government impose task in bitcoin transactions? how will bank staff retain their jobs? if people no longer use bank e.t.c if any government can proffer solutions to those problems I believe bitcoin can be adopted.

[Franctoshi]

As an individual I have good vission for Bitcoin to be used as a form money and investment wise. However, for a democratic system of Government like in my country, government affairs are not run only by one entity, there are other players involved which includes the Senate, the Federal excutive council and other arms of government to actually take some decision, but in this case I will ensure good policies are in place which will help Bitcoin thrive in my country.

[PrivacyG]

While this may be true, I would like to make a list of all possible ways in which banks and governments will try to fight against BTC. So we could find ways to anticipate against it.

Newbie asking the Bitcoin community what they fear the most about the Government.  Pretty suspicious!  Just kidding.

I think once Bitcoin becomes big enough, they will be willing to sacrifice a lot to make sure Bitcoin is at least partially in their control or that Bitcoin loses credibility.  Considering current society, there are a few things they can do.

First, make sure Bitcoin is seen as the bad guy everywhere by everyone.  How hard is it for the FBI or CIA to pretend Bitcoin has been found to empower one of the largest criminal network in the world?  Ensure mainstream media coverage all around the globe.  This is enough for Bitcoin's Market Cap to already drop substantially.

Second.  While keeping the Bitcoin narrative going for months, shut the Internet or Electricity grid for a matter of minutes.  Yes, minutes of national Internet shut down or power cut I think could have a very serious impact on Bitcoin's credibility.

From there on, it gets much simpler.  Just use these two narratives to make sure a significant percentage of the population gets scared away.  Bitcoin, the nonexistent currency when you have no more Internet!  Bitcoin, the currency empowering crime!  They would love such articles to exist, would they not.

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Regards,
PrivacyG

[freedomgo]

- Prison sentences for people getting caught owning BTC, trading it or selling goods in BTC. Penalties so severe that most people will back off. I often hear local media associate BTC holders with criminals and money launderers, and expect governments to treat them as such. Local banks in my country can face penalties if crypto profits are transfered to a local bank account.

And how can you tell that these people owned BTC or other cryptocurrencies? People these days are clever enough to hide their digital assets and with the information that the government will give heavy punishments to those people who are holding crypto, they will surely do everything they can to just to prevent the government from knowing. And in this time and age, there's so many ways to evade the government from knowing. Just like China, I don't really expect that all people in the mainland China doesn't hold any digital assets anymore just because their government is banning it.

[Antonas1]

This is funny, why do we have to be against it? People will continue to try to use Bitcoin in various ways, even if you have many ways to curb them.

But if you mean me (as a government) against Bitcoin is a war, what I might have done is:
1. Doing what Rodrigo Duterte did when fighting drug dealers. Hunt and execute them immediately, every one of Bitcoin users.
2. Apply the same punishment as Xi Jinping did to corruptors in his country.

I'm a dictator!

[bitzizzix]

Nobody knows how to proceed with the regulation of bitcoin as it is a very difficult task, as the ever-increasing interest in bitcoin increases, regulators will surely go to great lengths to try to enforce laws on this decentralized protocol.
and bitcoin will go up or down on its own, and nothing will stop it other than shutting down the internet or making tough laws against the people involved even if it doesn't matter to them. Because they will continue to try to use it in various ways, so I don't think there is a really effective way yet and do we know if there is a government that prohibits it, do we know 100% no one uses it

[yudi09]

Because I never had a government plan that was too complicated on every order. What's the point of the government banning the use of Bitcoin by every citizen as long as Bitcoin can be a solution for them.
There are several countries that clearly and unequivocally prohibit their citizens from getting involved with all types of crypto but their citizens are still looking to be able to engage in crypto activities amidst the severe sanctions that are imposed if caught.

As long as the internet still exists in a country, then during that time crypto activity will continue.

[GigaBit]

Every country's government is more concerned about cryptocurrency. They can not permit it to openly use on the other not able to collect revenue from it. Basically they try to keep the cryptocurrency under their control but they know that is not possible that is why they shows negative attitude towards Cryptocurrency.

They argue that since virtual currency is not issued by the legitimate authority of any country, there is no recognition of monetary claims against it. Transactions in virtual currencies can lead to money laundering and terrorist financing activities. Governments in various countries have identified transactions in virtual currencies online with anonymous or pseudonymous counter parties as violations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

In addition, governments of various countries have warned that customers transacting through online networks may face various risks, including potential financial and legal risks of virtual currencies.

Basically, If we can find a proper solution to these issues, there will be no more negative reactions to Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency. However, currently the government of different countries or their high ranking officials are trading in crypto confidentially. I think this is a positive aspect of Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

They can not permit it to openly use on the other not able to collect revenue from it.

Yes they can and some like the USA do collect their share of the revenue and accept its usage. It's called using/enforcing their current tax systems. The setup is no different than how they handle business that are cash based. Any busness that has income MUST report it no matter it being crypto or fiat. Same for individuals.

[WeThePe0ple]

This is because despite their propaganda and how powerful it can be they cannot deceive people forever, especially now when people are suffering through massive inflation and governments have no solution at hand they can offer, so in that scenario is natural for people to begin to look for answers by themselves, and they found out that bitcoin is a tool that could allow to them to avoid or at least reduce somewhat the impact that inflation has on their savings.
[/quote]

While this sounds nice in theory, I do not believe this is true in real life.
I work, I have a masters degree, I pay my bills and I own a 70 000 savings account. So debt free.
However my savings account, getting eaten by inflation, is necessary in order to receive a mortgage plan for buying a home.
So I can't convert it to BTC. Banks want fiat money.

Also I can't convert my incoming salary to BTC as a hedge against inflation, because I need it for bills priced in fiat currency.
I think that investing in a life changing amount of BTC is only for the non working class, and for very early investors.

The entire working class is looking at a future in which we are paid in a depreciating currency. With inflation higher than 10% in the EU, we will lose half of our purchasing power in 5 years if this continues. And I believe it will.

I believe that in the opinion of the elites, we are too many on the planet. They depreciate our currencies on purpose, so that we can no longer pay and they have total control over us. By 2030 you will own nothing. That famous line of the World Economic Forum

[ultrloa]

Why you try to ban a something beneficial to your people? If you see that bitcoin is helping people to change their lives and they get good money without boundaries or discrimination then I guess there's nothing wrong with it and this must be adopted. If they are worried about frauds or certain illegal activities happen and using this as glorious escape then make a law and reinforce this to eliminate or decrease such incident to protect the people which is using this option.

 Government need to think positive side since if they always think about fighting it for sure they can destroy life who's working legitimately on the industry and I bet many people are in legit space on bitcoin or crypto paying jobs.

[Oceat]

It's hard to think that way but maybe if someone that was thinking the opposite as what the developers been thinking that's how they would do it. And I think Satoshi already think that way or maybe someone gave him the idea that's why Bitcoin has been created that way as a decentralized crypto currency.

Most of the government that are against Bitcoin was against from people who buy/trade Bitcoin because they think it will hinder them from growing their country's economy but I think the truth is if they can't control who's using Bitcoin their economy such as monopoly business will be countered. And also, money laundering is what they are against too and protecting some people from scam. That's why they pushed the regulation to each exchanges that already exist.

[DapanasFruit]

The government can never stop and kill Bitcoin but it can make things around Bitcoin so difficult...just like what the China did and can be doing. Usually, only a regime which is authoritarian can do so if there is any country banning Bitcoin it could mean that its leader or leaders can be concentrating power on themselves and can soon be dictators on their own. In a democratic setting, there is no big reason why Bitcoin should be banned and must even be encouraged to survive and flourish. When you have a good level of control with the population, you are just going to say this and that - and am sure majority of the people will be following your wishes and command.

[dezoel]

I wouldn't, in fact I would focus on how I could control it instead of ban it. This way I would promote all of my citizens to use it as much as they can for their foreign works, and then tax them in crypto when they do a business and create a treasury just for bitcoin.

This means, we are not going to charge people for trading income or loss, we are just going to charge them for the transactions they make, even if we do just 1%, that would be huge for most nations, 1% on all crypto they get to their accounts. They may hide it, that's the problem, if they don't, even 0.1% tax would be awesome, and put that in the treasury and in a decade or two we would have hundreds of billions of dollars in bitcoin.

[Leviathan.007]

The thing is I would never try to fight against bitcoin because I see no reason for fighting with something which can make me rich and help my people so instead of fighting agasint it I wwould try to accpet it and take a an step for adoption of bitoin in my country while if I wanted to fiht agasint it I would try to take control over internet and try to track any back transaction or my people which is what they do in china howver they are not compely suvsfull about it.

[irhact]

I've often heard that nothing can stop bitcoin.
While this may be true, I would like to make a list of all possible ways in which banks and governments will try to fight against BTC. So we could find ways to anticipate against it.

The government can't win against Bitcoin, because Bitcoin was built to be bulletproof of whatever the government has to throw at Bitcoin. The fact that Bitcoin is decentralized means all the attempt to regulate Bitcoin will fail. The government can try regulating all centralized exchange so they can be ahead with monitoring of transaction but those who transact P2P won't be monitored.

The government should give up in trying to control Bitcoin and embrace the fact that they can't control Bitcoin and see how they can work things out so the market is protected from manipulation and become more secure so more and more companies can enter into the market which will be more portable to them through taxation of the exchanges.

[Maidak]

I've often heard that nothing can stop bitcoin.
While this may be true, I would like to make a list of all possible ways in which banks and governments will try to fight against BTC. So we could find ways to anticipate against it.

The government can't win against Bitcoin, because Bitcoin was built to be bulletproof of whatever the government has to throw at Bitcoin. The fact that Bitcoin is decentralized means all the attempt to regulate Bitcoin will fail. The government can try regulating all centralized exchange so they can be ahead with monitoring of transaction but those who transact P2P won't be monitored.

The government should give up in trying to control Bitcoin and embrace the fact that they can't control Bitcoin and see how they can work things out so the market is protected from manipulation and become more secure so more and more companies can enter into the market which will be more portable to them through taxation of the exchanges.

They can't win or completely eliminate bitcoin but don't try to provoke or confront them, it's not in our favor either. In the worst case, the governments get together and put in place a total ban, that would be big trouble for us. As long as you still live under their control, don't expect anything to help you against them or bring you absolute freedom.

If you don't expect them to control it, don't expect them to protect you from manipulation or fraud, hold yourself accountable for your actions.