Will Governments Become the Biggest BTC Whales?

[Abiky]

The government wants to control bitcoin because they don't want to lose control of the people, they know they will get into a lot of trouble if people use bitcoin as a currency. They don't seek to control it because it is a scarce and valuable asset like other mineral resources like gold or oil, make no mistake about it. So geopolitical Bitcoin wars seem unlikely and will never happen.

What the government wants is to put regulations in place to manage it and make it easier for them to tax people, they are not interested in investing it or trying to hold it as many people mistakenly believe.

Exactly. It has always been about control. With centralized exchanges dominating the market, controlling Bitcoin is easy. At least, some of the circulating supply. BTC brings huge taxation benefits to the government, so expect more countries to open up their arms to it. Once CBDCs become a thing, crypto regulations will only get tougher.

Luckily for us, we can trade and use BTC without ever needing to touch a centralized exchange or service. Everything can be done "off-grid", thanks to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin. So long as it stays that way, nothing should be able to stop it.

[tread93]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

I think that governments will utilize bitcoin so much more than just a strategic reserve. They will refine energy consumption methods around the mining and advocate for less takes and promote higher earnings amongst their citizens if they want adoption to take place. Perhaps Nations will certainly be many of the whales but I just thing there are too many OV whales that outnumber these nations

[fruktik]

Governments could become the biggest whales in Bitcoin if they continue to accumulate it at a rapid pace. This would be detrimental to decentralization as well as price stability because governments can manipulate prices by buying or selling large amounts of bitcoins. It is also possible that there may be geopolitical conflicts over who controls these coins which could lead to war between countries trying to gain control over them.

Well, here we go. We've slipped back into discussing war. It's not enough for us, there's a conflict brewing here too, if you think about it. I'm not sure that this will become a reality anytime soon. Why? At this stage, preference is still given to the "traditional" fiat system, which has proven itself well over many decades. States will not take such a step that could turn the current order upside down. It's too risky and unfounded. A lot of things need to be reconsidered. Yes, Bitcoin has become part of the financial world, but it has not yet been able to become a "full-fledged" participant.

[Pi-network314159]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

If governments keep on investing in Bitcoin mining, I don't see a price stability happening. That's the inherent structure of Bitcoin. The volatility is something that keeps the investors and traders in the market.

probably the op dont know the true meaning of bitcoin price stability, because if he knows he will not say that. if bitcoin is stable what then drives the massive adoption? because volatility of bitcoin makes people want to accumulate more.

However, there's a definite risk on decentralization. Right now, if you would like to purchase Bitcoin legally, first thing you need to do is KYC. The chances of getting Bitcoin anonymously is getting slimmer day by day.

yeah the only way to purchase bitcoin legally now is by doing KYC which involves revealing your identity, so the chances of purchasing bitcoin anonymously is getting slimmer by the day. but the only way i see one can do that is by buying bitcoin directly from someone through DEX p2p. although that one is not even anonymous though but it is somehow better than government regulating your transactions from a KYC exchange.

Although total anonymity is not that good because some group of people might just purchase a large number of bitcoin and hodl for some time and sell to liquidate the market and of couse that will dump the market. so the best way to avoid people who want to buy bitcoin in large quantity and having control of the market is by making sure any person or group of people that want to purchase bitcoin in large quantity will require to do KYC to be able to know them incase they want to sell and liquidate the market due to the large number of bitcoin in there possession, then the necessary thing will be done to prevent geopolitical war.
  

[Smartprofit]

Decentralization is very important for bitcoin. At the same time, decentralization of the first cryptocurrency has a triple essence - decentralization of mining, decentralization of ownership and decentralization of development.

In a situation where bitcoin is owned by governments of states, is it possible to preserve bitcoin decentralization? Yes, in my opinion, it is possible.

There are about 200 different states on the globe. If each of them creates its own bitcoin reserve and starts mining the first cryptocurrency on its own (and all large transnational corporations start doing the same), then in fact we will get strong decentralization, only the owners of nodes and development centers will not be individuals, but individual states and large corporations. At the same time, they will have to somehow agree with each other, and over time they will begin to appreciate the independent and decentralized nature of bitcoin.

Bitcoin will become the basis of a new financial system, on its basis fiat money of individual countries will be issued. And bitcoin itself will be perceived as a universal value, as a supranational financial structure.

[arhipova]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

The stances of different governments are different and thus confusing also. Like some countries you mentioned are going into mining while others are banning it. It is like taking a bet on crypto based on possible future. If crypto does become more important with time, these economies could also become more powerful.

[Yamifoud]

Governments could become the biggest whales in Bitcoin if they continue to accumulate it at a rapid pace. This would be detrimental to decentralization as well as price stability because governments can manipulate prices by buying or selling large amounts of bitcoins. It is also possible that there may be geopolitical conflicts over who controls these coins which could lead to war between countries trying to gain control over them.

Well, here we go. We've slipped back into discussing war. It's not enough for us, there's a conflict brewing here too, if you think about it. I'm not sure that this will become a reality anytime soon. Why? At this stage, preference is still given to the "traditional" fiat system, which has proven itself well over many decades. States will not take such a step that could turn the current order upside down. It's too risky and unfounded. A lot of things need to be reconsidered. Yes, Bitcoin has become part of the financial world, but it has not yet been able to become a "full-fledged" participant.

Bitcoin wars haven't been seen yet, nor will they be seen in the future. As long as the majority of the states are using the fiat system, it is impossible for the majority to look after Bitcoin.

We might see some countries gain interest in Bitcoin, but for sure, not to the point of making it their top priority. Like El Salvador, they did the first risky move, but they are not even multiplying their holdings. It means that they take it cautiously, and the same strategy will be used for other countries.

[348Judah]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining.

Do you mean the Russians here or the Russian government, because I don't think I've learnt of the Russian government moving into Bitcoin mining of recent, but I know well that of El-Salvador, they have been into bitcoin mining and investments mostly over the years.

If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

No, Bitcoin cannot be centralized at this cause, the market cannot be manipulated in their behalf for this reason, they can't be the only whales that will be investing on bitcoin, just as we have it now, no whales have been able to achieve any form of centralization over bitcoin.

[Zanab247]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

I think that governments will utilize bitcoin so much more than just a strategic reserve. They will refine energy consumption methods around the mining and advocate for less takes and promote higher earnings amongst their citizens if they want adoption to take place. Perhaps Nations will certainly be many of the whales but I just thing there are too many OV whales that outnumber these nations

If it come to spending money on investment, I guess governments are capable of that because they know that they will benefit from the investment before they leave the office for another president to take over, and they will make sure they sell to have Share with the profit before they leave. What El Salvador government is doing today to open the eyes of their citizens to BTC and other cryptocurrencies investment in the country, it will impact so many people to start going into BTC investment to increase profit.

But the effort El Salvador government has made so far for their people to know BTC investment, it will be difficult for Russia government to achieve easy because they will be doubting BTC investment and it will make them not to use big amount of money to invest in BTC.

[finaleshot2016]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

Nope. They only hold 1% of it. They are not the biggest btc whales.

Those real whales just lurk around the ocean, they are literally can't be seen and will not show their identities unless be used in a specific agenda such as politics.

Don't worry too much about decentralization 'cause the feature is not yet defeated, they only hold less, and the community is still that holds the majority.

[pawanjain]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

You missed Bhutan! Bhutan was probably the first ever nation to monetize their abundant hydro power using Bitcoin mining. They already hold close to 14000 bitcoins.

If governments keep on investing in Bitcoin mining, I don't see a price stability happening. That's the inherent structure of Bitcoin. The volatility is something that keeps the investors and traders in the market. However, there's a definite risk on decentralization. Right now, if you would like to purchase Bitcoin legally, first thing you need to do is KYC. The chances of getting Bitcoin anonymously is getting slimmer day by day. I foresee that, it will only be increasing and enforcement agencies will close down any places where anonymous Bitcoin transactions are happening.

Not sure about the geopolitical Bitcoin wars, but commoners like you and I, will have no place to stay anonymous.

I do understand your point but that's not entirely true because we will still have options to purchase bitcoin anonymously although certain risks will be involved.
For example, we can use P2P to directly buy bitcoin for fiat, we also have the option to purchase monero using KYC exchange and then make few transactions on monero network to stay anonymous and then exchange it to bitcoin using DEX.
We will just have to find alternative ways to buy bitcoin anonymously but yeah the bitcoin network will become more centralized when the whales acquire more number of bitcoins.

[RockBell]

Exactly. It has always been about control. With centralized exchanges dominating the market, controlling Bitcoin is easy. At least, some of the circulating supply. BTC brings huge taxation benefits to the government, so expect more countries to open up their arms to it. Once CBDCs become a thing, crypto regulations will only get tougher.

Luckily for us, we can trade and use BTC without ever needing to touch a centralized exchange or service. Everything can be done "off-grid", thanks to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin. So long as it stays that way, nothing should be able to stop it.

The government have been working hand to hand with this centralized exchanges and that is were they even add tax for people to pay and that is the only way that they can make them submit and there is a lot of polices that is used to make decision for them, and the only people that have serious power over the market is the whales and only whales have the power to be able to make them submit. If you look at other countries they are making good money from taxing people because in some countries they charge upto 30 % and this what the government wants.

And if they want to go pure on a decentralized exchanges it is better when it comes to crypto because your privacy will be secured and privacy is one of the things that is very needed and the foundation of bitcoin was built on privacy. So this is one of the reasons people are so inlove with bitcoin.

But the circumstances started changing and this is something that a lot of people are not happy about because there people that when it comes to centralized exchanges a lot of people don't want to be part of it.

[tbct_mt2]

The government have been working hand to hand with this centralized exchanges and that is were they even add tax for people to pay and that is the only way that they can make them submit and there is a lot of polices that is used to make decision for them, and the only people that have serious power over the market is the whales and only whales have the power to be able to make them submit. If you look at other countries they are making good money from taxing people because in some countries they charge upto 30 % and this what the government wants.

Governments have many power and tools to control centralized exchanges and force them to obey their regulations. At the end, governments want more money from citizens and business companies in their countries. That's all they want, they want as most money from individual tax to business tax as possible and everything they do just for it.

But this is off topic or derails from this topic, that is "Whether governments become biggest BTC whales?"

They can but they will need some years to do it, from consesus in their constitutions and also need time to purchase bitcoin. If the trend is going with government accumulation on Bitcoin, many countries will compete with each other. Like individual investors, first comes first serves and if a country do it earlier than other countries, they will have big advantage.

[bettercrypto]

I think that's happening now, it seems like it's no different now from countries that are saving Gold as a backup for their country. So it's not unlikely that the time will come when all countries will gradually make it their bitcoin reserves in their territory.

Look at the big countries today that can also be considered strong countries, they also have large holdings of bitcoin in fact, and it's also widespread throughout the world
as to which countries have bitcoin holdings.

[Ever-young]

I think that governments will utilize bitcoin so much more than just a strategic reserve. They will refine energy consumption methods around the mining and advocate for less takes and promote higher earnings amongst their citizens if they want adoption to take place. Perhaps Nations will certainly be many of the whales but I just thing there are too many OV whales that outnumber these nations

Nations can make it up to the list of whales but they can’t outnumber the already existing ones who have started accumulating and mining bitcoin right from the early days, government have the resource to make things work and make their citizens to also join the queue but their is limit to the extent that they can go make things work.

[Antotena]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

The stances of different governments are different and thus confusing also. Like some countries you mentioned are going into mining while others are banning it. It is like taking a bet on crypto based on possible future. If crypto does become more important with time, these economies could also become more powerful.

Banning Bitcoin is a wrong idea and wrong digestion of information regarding Bitcoin but it's cool, one way or the other a time will come when Banning of Bitcoin will be something of the past but it will be late then to buy Bitcoin cheap because many of their developers sold out of compliance and we're afraid of the brutal punishment that may comes later but I would have probably left and go to another country where Bitcoin is appreciated by people who see the value.n

I don't know how true is the mind of US government and how they want to make Us the place of Bitcoin but if thag eventually happen and they get recognition, Bitcoin will not be something that is ban again, even the people that don't like to hear about Bitcoin will want to hear it, even if they don't have plans to have their own strategic plans with Bitcoin will lift that ban because you can't say something US government spend his time on to get to office will be there, they can even secretly have Bitcoin but wouldn't tell the public they have Bitcoin.

[Myleschetty]

I think that governments will utilize bitcoin so much more than just a strategic reserve. They will refine energy consumption methods around the mining and advocate for less takes and promote higher earnings amongst their citizens if they want adoption to take place. Perhaps Nations will certainly be many of the whales but I just thing there are too many OV whales that outnumber these nations

Nations can make it up to the list of whales but they can’t outnumber the already existing ones who have started accumulating and mining bitcoin right from the early days, government have the resource to make things work and make their citizens to also join the queue but their is limit to the extent that they can go make things work.

The market is unpredictable, and the people we are speaking about have the smartest people on the planet on their palm. who have the ability to invent a way to control the entire market or scare the existing whales into dumping some of their bags so they can amass. Don't be so certain that they can't outnumber the current whales in the market; the example what we're seeing now in the market. The most crucial thing right now is that each Bitcoin user keeps their BTC in a safe self-custodial wallet instead of exchange.

[Ever-young]

Nations can make it up to the list of whales but they can’t outnumber the already existing ones who have started accumulating and mining bitcoin right from the early days, government have the resource to make things work and make their citizens to also join the queue but their is limit to the extent that they can go make things work.

The market is unpredictable, and the people we are speaking about have the smartest people on the planet on their palm. who have the ability to invent a way to control the entire market or scare the existing whales into dumping some of their bags so they can amass. Don't be so certain that they can't outnumber the current whales in the market; the example what we're seeing now in the market. The most crucial thing right now is that each Bitcoin user keeps their BTC in a safe self-custodial wallet instead of exchange.

If the market can easily be manipulated and controlled by invention from government and its agencies don’t you think that it could have been done long ago before now? I don’t doubt you saying the smartest people can invent a great thing but for the purpose you point at I don’t agree with that, some whales don’t get move no matter the pressure on the market, the government will always have Bitcoin to buy from small and short time holders.

[Huppercase]

Some governments (like El Salvador and Russia) are moving into bitcoin mining. If more nation-states accumulate BTC, what impact will this have on decentralization and price stability? Could this lead to geopolitical bitcoin wars?

Russia? I'm not sure Russia has been crypto friendly. Those guys have been an attack vector to Bitcoin and don't like anything crypto unless there is a change about there government and views on Bitcoin. That aside, only US has been shouting about reserve and their plans for crypto. I can't affirm if this will be possible but if they which is conditional, if they do trust me other countries will follow later but for now, it's just formal talks and we can't rely on that alone.

El Salvador legal tender is there but the people didn't use Bitcoin as many expected, the free Bitcoin that was airdrop to them sold everything but perhaps if US start their promises about Bitcoin there is going to be a huge demand in Bitcoin as exchange for people that really want to accept but people that are not used to it and used to traditional currencies will find it hard to accept it because of the volatility they may face if they accept it from customers.

[FinneysTrueVision]

The United States and China already hold a significant amount of Bitcoin according to bitcointreasuries.net. Most of this came from seizing coins that were related to a criminal investigation. There has been some speculation that if a Bitcoin reserve was created by Trump, it would start a competition among countries to see who can accumulate the most BTC. This might be overly-optimistic thinking from people who want to see the value of their holdings increase significantly.

Countries like Russia, Iran and North Korea might already own a large amount, but the idea of spending taxpayer funds to buy Bitcoin is not likely to go over well in countries that are not under sanctions. It was a controversial idea in El Salvador and in the United States, according to one survey, a Bitcoin reserve does not have a lot of support from the general population.