What if they tried it

[bettercrypto]

What if the governments across the world attempted to seize all of your crypto assets like the US seized all gold from their citizens in the 1900s. Now I'm seeing articles talking about how the US government is trying to be able claim private property.

I think that ultimately this would be very challenging for any government to successfully accomplish. This would cause a revolutionary period again in our world I imagine....

Oh my, the U.S country even when they really want to manipulate everything even though it's impossible to find a way even if they can't do it like Bitcoin.

      That's why they can only control those that are regulated but not bitcoin or under decentralized crypto. Maybe they are doing that because the U.S. is already deep in debt.

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[CryptoBuds]

They can't do that because bitcoin is not like gold, bitcoin is not in a physical state, and if you store it in a non-custodial wallet, your bitcoins are almost safe. Unless you hold your bitcoins in custodial wallets and exchanges, they will easily confiscate them. That's a negative hypothesis, I don't think things will work out that way, but instead, I think they will find a way to regulate and tax us. That's what it's going on, the crackdowns from the SEC and the CFTC prove that they are trying to control and tax us.

[blue Snow]

What if the governments across the world attempted to seize all of your crypto assets like the US seized all gold from their citizens in the 1900s.

I really want to live on that country, I don't know why until today still have government think like that, and thinks if can be seized something goods (ghost) with they can't touch. I think, if I live on that country I will be an official, keep all things being stupid, and I will continue to fool my people. If someday my people owns a bitcoin, I will order them to save his Bitcoin on the country bank so easy to control.

[LogitechMouse]

How will they do it? I mean I'm thinking of possible ways for them to seize our Bitcoins, but I can't think of any.

This is also the reason why many people here doesn't recommend storing your Bitcoins into some centralized exchanges because the government can just file a lawsuit against them, and then when they become successful, they will seize the Bitcoins like what they did to Chipmixer.

How realistic is this to happen? I don't think it will happen, but they are capable of doing it just by passing some laws. Overall, this is the reason why I always wanted to put it on a wallet that I have a full control of it. I think it's a good thing that there are countries that aren't doing this kind of thing. I mean there are some countries out there who are either crypto-friendly, or just a neutral, doesn't say anything with regards to crypto, and just letting their people use it.

[Mttewndew]

It would be interesting to see how a government could even attempt to seize crypto assets. Would they send the army to hack into our wallets? And what about decentralized exchanges? They would have to seize the entire internet.

[dezoel]

First of all they can't, I agree with that like others. But the main question in my mind is that, why would they? Like why would they even want to do something like that. They are not morons, they are aware that they can't do something like that, which means that there is a chance we could see them not do as well as people can imagine and that is why they won't be able to even if they tried and they are aware of it.

What is the maximum they can do? They could ask the exchanges in their own nations to stop withdrawals and send them all the crypto or they will put everyone in jail at that exchange, right? Even with that, I am sure they won't get it all, they would get some, but not all, and that is why they won't do it.

[davis196]

What if the governments across the world attempted to seize all of your crypto assets like the US seized all gold from their citizens in the 1900s. Now I'm seeing articles talking about how the US government is trying to be able claim private property.

I think that ultimately this would be very challenging for any government to successfully accomplish. This would cause a revolutionary period again in our world I imagine....

The governments cannot confiscate something, which they consider to be worthless(at least most of the governments).
Good luck trying to find and confiscate all the cold wallets, which can be hidden basically everywhere.
A crypto mining and trading ban would be way more efficient than trying to seize all cryptocurrencies. Maybe an attempt at confiscating all mining hardware and banning mining hardware completely would hit the cryptocurrency world in a vicious way.
The governments are capable of doing really dumb stuff. Their stupidity has no limits.

[worle1bm]

They can make laws according to what they find suitable and you can't argue over it.They can pass law restricting the usage of crypto assets so you won't be able to trade or use it freely but yes if you have followed the security and privacy concerns they might not able to track your records of whether you hold it or not but then also you need external access to utilise your funds.The US gold seize is well known but it was for gold bonds I think as they were issued by them but still people's money was used so they had full control over financial assets which is why it's advised to not be under radar.

[jeraldskie11]

It would be interesting to see how a government could even attempt to seize crypto assets. Would they send the army to hack into our wallets? And what about decentralized exchanges? They would have to seize the entire internet.

That is the reason why cryptocurrency especially Bitcoin was created. Because that is the best idea how to prevent them from being stopped by the government. While Wikileaks was still operating, there was a financial blockade on the WikiLeaks account. The government caused that.

After US govern initiated a financial blockade over WikiLeaks' accounts, Julian realized the potential of Bitcoin and intended to accept the new cryptocurrency as a form for donations. The idea put BitcoinTalk on flame at that time:

I think it's better to start reading the story of Julian's life now, and how he became connected to Bitcoin.

Source:The call for Julian Assange || The WikiLeaks Manifesto - We all should read it

[death69]

Bro, you're asking the million-dollar question about the government nabbing our sweet, sweet crypto! As a pro in the biz, I can tell ya that Uncle Sam would have one heck of a time trying to snatch your digital goodies. The thing about crypto is that it's all decentralized and hanging out on a blockchain, so there's no bigwig or institution calling the shots.

Now, I can hear your gears turning. "Hold up, can't the government just pull the plug on the internet and snag all the crypto that way?" Sure, an internet apocalypse would make everyone go bananas, but it's not really a doable plan for grabbing all those digital assets.

No joke, if they tried, we'd probably see some serious revolution action, just like you mentioned. Crypto's got that magic touch, giving folks the power to steer their own financial ship and offering a freedom that old-school money systems just can't touch.

[karmamiu]

Well in the case of our country, we don't really need to hide our crypto since most of our wallet providers here requires KYC so we could not escape the eyes of the government, aside from that we have limits in verification and also some of our custodial wallets ask us where our source of funds came from. That aside, if you have hard wallet then you can freely do transactions externally, but if one slight mistake you will transfer an amount (big enough) in your custodial wallet, you will have to clarify where that source came from and if you are deemed to be doing external transactions then you will be subjected to laundering I believe. Even if we complain that's mostly the cases here since we could also not exchange our crypto to fiat without declaring anything, and it's not as if, someday we are going to buy a tangible asset using crypto without them monitoring our income and transactions. So still we are the ones needing the government for those fiats.

[ethereumhunter]

They can make laws according to what they find suitable and you can't argue over it.They can pass law restricting the usage of crypto assets so you won't be able to trade or use it freely but yes if you have followed the security and privacy concerns they might not able to track your records of whether you hold it or not but then also you need external access to utilise your funds.The US gold seize is well known but it was for gold bonds I think as they were issued by them but still people's money was used so they had full control over financial assets which is why it's advised to not be under radar.

Governments can do what they want because they have resources that we don't know about. Maybe they can track our use of crypto assets and we just don't know how they can do it. But I can't imagine if governments around the world implemented that, maybe massive revolutions would happen in all countries. From now on, we must be careful in using crypto assets because things are slowly changing and not the same as a few years before because the government has started following crypto quietly.

[Darker45]

I don't think this will happen without a law explicitly declaring or legally branding cryptocurrencies as illegal. What they can only do so far is to seize those who are linked to illegal transactions or platforms. Other than those, I don't think they are in the right position to confiscate all crypto assets.

Now, there seems to be initiatives of certain legislators who are anti-cryptocurrency to somehow demonize the technology. If they are successful, it could indeed be possible for the government to order crypto owners to voluntarily surrender their crypto assets or else they will seize them forcibly. But I don't think this will scare majority of the believers. This will only push them to go underground with their crypto assets.

[Apocollapse]

This is why you need to avoid all centralized coins and only choose to invest in decentralized coin. It's need to be a 100% decentralized coin, you need to find a non custodial wallet that not depend on a centralized route and the decentralized exchange which you can access via Tor. This will make you stay undetected from any government, as long as you're care with your privacy.

[BenCodie]

What if the governments across the world attempted to seize all of your crypto assets like the US seized all gold from their citizens in the 1900s. Now I'm seeing articles talking about how the US government is trying to be able claim private property.

I think that ultimately this would be very challenging for any government to successfully accomplish. This would cause a revolutionary period again in our world I imagine....

If it were to be tried, I would not be surprised if it actually accumulated quite a lot of coin (at the cost of people's livelihoods, either temporarily or permanently) since a lot of people I bet would hand it over without a battle or have not taken the practices of being able to keep it safe. Whether or not that would positively effect the government financially in the overall scheme of things is another story as well. I think it's pretty unlikely that this would ever happen. I wouldn't say impossible based on the example that you provided about what happened in the 1900s though.

[majeed]

What if the governments across the world attempted to seize all of your crypto assets like the US seized all gold from their citizens in the 1900s. Now I'm seeing articles talking about how the US government is trying to be able claim private property.

I think that ultimately this would be very challenging for any government to successfully accomplish. This would cause a revolutionary period again in our world I imagine....

It makes total sense to be freaked out about the government trying to take your crypto. That's some wild stuff, and if they do go for it, it could legit start a revolution. But let's say they don't go that route. They could still mess with your crypto by dropping some laws that make it straight-up illegal to use or hold cryptocurrencies. It's a nightmare scenario, but it's not impossible. So then, what's the point of holding onto your crypto if you can't even use it?

That being said, the more likely option is that governments will just regulate crypto by taxing transactions. It's a way to control the market, but it's unclear how far they'll go with it. The good news is that different countries will regulate at different paces, so there might be a place that's more crypto-friendly than where you're at now. Who knows, there might even be countries that straight-up love crypto, and if the US government tries to come for your assets, you can just pack up and move.

[retreat]

What if the governments across the world attempted to seize all of your crypto assets like the US seized all gold from their citizens in the 1900s. Now I'm seeing articles talking about how the US government is trying to be able claim private property.

I think that ultimately this would be very challenging for any government to successfully accomplish. This would cause a revolutionary period again in our world I imagine....

I will be one of those who will fight against the government. I work and spend money to invest in crypto assets, on what basis are they forcibly taking it from me? do they think that cryptocurrency is an illegal and dirty asset? do they think that owning crypto assets is criminal? same as you have methamphetamine? there is no basis that the government can do to be able to confiscate my crypto assets - unless I commit a criminal and launder the proceeds of the crime in crypto, then the government has the right to be able to confiscate all of my crypto assets, other than that they have no rights .

[bounceback]

They'll try anything you let them. But Bitcoin offers a unique application which does give you more control over your assets.

Yes it's true that the government can easily do something against us because they are in power and so far they have made regulations regarding the existence of Cryptocurrency by tightening legal rules for crypto users, but with bitcoin I don't think they will be able to take our ownership because bitcoin is completely anonymous and decentralized, they don't have enough power to know the amount of assets we have if we store them in a hardware wallet, as opposed to keeping them on a centralized exchange where they can work with the founder of the exchange to know the total assets we hold.

[panganib999]

This answer might be tongue and cheek but let me say this.

If the government goes all out in regulating bitcoin within USA, there's little to nothing that people can do. Imagine risking your life for your bitcoins, that just wouldn't make sense would it?
Yes, an argument for appealing and holding protests could be made but let's face it. America isn't painted to be the democracy that it is. You can't go and do something like what the Philippines did to effectively oust their leader and kick them off the country. Not being pessimistic or cynical, just the truth. How many protests in America have been effective at setting the message across and making changes in the way the government governed the country? I'll wait.

So again, if it ever comes to the point that US bans bitcoins and seizes all affects that is related to bitcoin, you'd have no choice, you'd surrender it, and so are millions of people in that country.

[kryptqnick]

I don't think events like this are possible in contemporary world, certainly not in democratic countries. If someone is considered a criminal, assets can be seized. But that isn't nationwide and only touches a small number of people and companies. Also, regarding Bitcoin, the government may have trouble finding out about the assets and especially technically seizing them (they'll need names attached to wallets and also passphrases to access the funds), unless you mean centralized platforms like crypto exchanges. The USA is democratic enough, I believe, to be pretty sure that even such an attempt won't happen, though. Again, aside from people and companies considered criminals for various reasons.