Why do Government Need Bitcoin?

[samadam007]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

Governments may not like the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized, but they might still need it. If their own money fails or inflation gets worse, Bitcoin could be a backup to protect value. It's less about control and  more about staying prepared

[Abiky]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

Governments needs Bitcoin to profit from it (taxes) and control it whenever possible. Not that they're interested in the decentralization and censorship-resistant aspects of Bitcoin. If governments reject Bitcoin, they would be missing a huge piece of the pie.

It makes sense to regulate Bitcoin, instead of banning it completely. Even countries like China and Russia are reconsidering their "anti-crypto" stance. Banning Bitcoin, will encourage more people to use it "underground". Not to mention, governments will be missing the ability to collect a lot of taxes in return. They will play along just to get what they want. With CBDCs about to launch, you can see where this is heading to. I'd self-custody my BTC, just in case.

[suhadi88]

You want to know the truth? government want bitcoin to keep the control they have and keep people under their ruling force, if anything that is not part of the plans of controling everyone and not letting people move from a particular strata to another or anything that will make the people raise against the injustice the government practice on people or just for people to begin to get overly eye open in what is happening and how much control they have over peoples lives and how they mess up our lives to keep their flowing, their will be a very dangerous up raise of people against governments, so they have to be involved and scare anything that has the intention bitcoin once had or was coming up with, like Monero. the more private our life becomes the harder it is to control us so they can't do anything as they do now so they try to be overly involved and still make the most money out of it and the users or lovers.

In general, it all makes sense. Governments will likely move in this direction quietly and step by step, simply because they don’t want to lose control over the regulations they’ve put in place, or over the narratives they’ve already shaped.

They still rely heavily on banks, and that’s really the point. As long as people continue to use their services, many sectors will remain profitable. But regardless of how the story is framed, the financial world keeps moving forward, and people are becoming more selective with their choices. Financial technology, after all, is not something that can be easily dominated.

[Iranus]

Governments don't need Bitcoin. They just want to ensure there's nothing left they can't control. If they hold a significant amount of coins, they can control this market, manipulate it if necessary and regulate prices as they see fit.

Just as they have control over other financial instruments, they don't want to stay away from cryptocurrencies either. At least that's how the governments of developed countries see it. They've wised up now, realizing they can't defeat Bitcoin, they want to control it as much as possible.

The truth is, governments don't need or fear bitcoin as much as many people imagine. What they want is for nothing to be beyond their control, and Bitcoin is no exception.

Regarding beating Bitcoin, I don't think they ever had that intention. In the past, many governments have issued bans because they didn't trust it, but no government has ever ordered a complete crackdown and ban on bitcoin. I don't think Bitcoin will become popular if the US and other major powers cooperate to eliminate it. 

But now they have realized its potential. They know that by legalizing and enacting regulations, they can both control the population and generate enormous tax revenues.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

The truth is, governments don't need or fear bitcoin as much as many people imagine. What they want is for nothing to be beyond their control, and Bitcoin is no exception.

Regarding beating Bitcoin, I don't think they ever had that intention. In the past, many governments have issued bans because they didn't trust it, but no government has ever ordered a complete crackdown and ban on bitcoin. I don't think Bitcoin will become popular if the US and other major powers cooperate to eliminate it. 

But now they have realized its potential. They know that by legalizing and enacting regulations, they can both control the population and generate enormous tax revenues.

Governments won't disappear, Bitcoin won't die so governments and Bitcoin will exist together in the future. Governments have their legal power and tools for regulating Bitcoin industry from Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin market and tax policy, they have no reasons to feel fearful about Bitcoin. Bitcoin itself does not have power to kill and replace fiat currencies so it is not a threat to bank system, fiat currencies, CBDCs and governments.

Bitcoin has survived through its earliest years that are most challenging and vulnerable to death. Bitcoin has its bullish future with coexistence with governments, bank systems, fiat currencies and CBDCs globally.

The bullish case for Bitcoin.

[m2017]

Aside from that most coins the government claim to hold are seized assets and sometimes they do it to partially prove adoption if the country accepts bitcoin.

I believe that maintaining BTC-reserves obtained after confiscation does not confirm (partially or fully) the acceptance of bitcoin, but is rather due to bureaucratic red tape that prevents the "disposal" of these reserves. It's unclear how to sell something that, legally speaking, "doesn't exist" (there's no legislative approval), meaning governments have no choice but to simply hold onto these assets until legal certainty emerges.

[armanda90]

Governments don't need Bitcoin. They just want to ensure there's nothing left they can't control. If they hold a significant amount of coins, they can control this market, manipulate it if necessary and regulate prices as they see fit.

Just as they have control over other financial instruments, they don't want to stay away from cryptocurrencies either. At least that's how the governments of developed countries see it. They've wised up now, realizing they can't defeat Bitcoin, they want to control it as much as possible.

Bitcoin actually can't control by government and only has regulation allow at their country only can't adopt to other countries regulation about bitcoin as legal or illegal payment transaction. I think many government not really need bitcoin as investment way or make its legal currencies transaction just fully care taxes transaction only get much income due many people use bitcoin for trading or investing assets.

Government only care about benefit earn from bitcoin by adopting taxes transaction how happening nowadays adopting in my country bitcoin not legal for payment but every transaction in local market we must pay taxes fee up to 0.2% for buy or sell order filling.

[taufik123]

I believe that maintaining BTC-reserves obtained after confiscation does not confirm (partially or fully) the acceptance of bitcoin, but is rather due to bureaucratic red tape that prevents the "disposal" of these reserves. It's unclear how to sell something that, legally speaking, "doesn't exist" (there's no legislative approval), meaning governments have no choice but to simply hold onto these assets until legal certainty emerges.

It is not clear about the laws that are completely still not there or have not been made and this has to do with the Bitcoin Digital Currency which does not have a physical
and also depends on the regulations and rules of each country.

As long as there is no legal ruling on the management of Bitcoin assets obtained from confiscation,
the government has no right to sell or monetize them, and according to the current law, storing them in cold storage is the only way to do it.

If some people manipulate or make the asset disappear, then legally it is the wrong action,
and it is necessary to be careful if the regulation of Bitcoin is still unclear, especially in my country which is only a commodity asset and nothing more.

If in the future it is clear what the legal assets of the looted assets are and no one claims,
then the government has the right to regulate everything and it may be officially auctioned
and entered the state treasury or if the country legalizes Bitcoin it will go to the government's reserve wallet.

https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/a-life-after-crime-what-happens-to-crypto-seized-in-criminal-investigations-2834119
https://criminaldefenseattorneytampa.com/asset-seizure-asset-forfeiture/seizures-of-bitcoin/

[Danica22]

Governments don't need Bitcoin. They just want to ensure there's nothing left they can't control. If they hold a significant amount of coins, they can control this market, manipulate it if necessary and regulate prices as they see fit.

Just as they have control over other financial instruments, they don't want to stay away from cryptocurrencies either. At least that's how the governments of developed countries see it. They've wised up now, realizing they can't defeat Bitcoin, they want to control it as much as possible.

Bitcoin actually can't control by government and only has regulation allow at their country only can't adopt to other countries regulation about bitcoin as legal or illegal payment transaction. I think many government not really need bitcoin as investment way or make its legal currencies transaction just fully care taxes transaction only get much income due many people use bitcoin for trading or investing assets.

Government only care about benefit earn from bitcoin by adopting taxes transaction how happening nowadays adopting in my country bitcoin not legal for payment but every transaction in local market we must pay taxes fee up to 0.2% for buy or sell order filling.

If we pay attention, we will see that most countries that have legalized bitcoin, whether as a method of payment or a commodity, tax each transaction. This shows that they only need the tax revenue from Bitcoin, beyond that, they have no real interest in anything else from it.

But with the geopolitical situation becoming increasingly unstable, I think they might change in the future and will need bitcoin more someday. As geopolitical instability increases and the global economy becomes more fragile, countries will seek alternative options to protect and secure their economies. Bitcoin could be a good option because it is not controlled by any government or superpower. It could become an alternative to gold, and they could use it to add to national reserves or use it as a method of payment.

[As-Soon-As]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

The government of the country creates a strategic reserve of Bitcoin based on several reasons, one of which is to eliminate economic shortages. Every government wants to keep its country economically prosperous and no matter how big or small the country is in terms of size, every government wants to control its country properly and free from shortages. So this Bitcoin is quite suitable for quickly eliminating economic shortages, so I want to say that in the future, this Bitcoin is used as a strategic reserve to eliminate economic shortages. And if one day the country declares Bitcoin as legal, then the government of the country will be a sufficient reason for its Bitcoin to achieve greater success.

[Synchronice]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

You are looking for an answer about why the government needs Bitcoin in a fundamental way. To be honest, I can't find any single reason that will make me say that yes, because of this, the government needs Bitcoin in a fundamental way.

Bitcoin is decentralized, this is the thing that the government doesn't need. So, fundamentally, they don't need Bitcoin. The only reason they keep it is that their response was too late and they can't do much to kill Bitcoin right now, so their game plan moved forward and they are basically like, if you can't beat them, join them.

Despite the fact that it's fundamentally a nightmare for the government, there are still many benefits that they can get from it, like taxing Bitcoin revenues, tracking Bitcoin transactions (it's not as anonymous as we thought years ago). They can generate a tons of profit from it and for governments, profit matters a lot more than anything else.

[liasbaa]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

Many governments are aware of the inherent value of Bitcoin but are reluctant to embrace decentralization. They are clearly reluctant to do so because a decentralized economy would undermine the financial power of governments. But some countries' treasury departments secretly store Bitcoin in state coffers. By holding Bitcoins seized from scammers, governments can make high profits or play a huge role in increasing the country's wealth through strategic reserves.

[Onyeeze]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

Where are you been convinced that government needs bitcoin? Government doesn't needs bitcoin and if government needs bitcoin by now bitcoin would have being a legal currency generally, instead government kept attacking Bitcoin with different tactics, I'm not convinced that government needs bitcoin, what I have noticed is that bitcoin is a kind of currency that government of different countries is having a trust issues on, some nations use gold as a foreign reserve, but it's difficult before you could see a government that will accept to use bitcoin as a foreign reserve currency

[Minor Miner]

Many governments are aware of the inherent value of Bitcoin but are reluctant to embrace decentralization. They are clearly reluctant to do so because a decentralized economy would undermine the financial power of governments. But some countries' treasury departments secretly store Bitcoin in state coffers. By holding Bitcoins seized from scammers, governments can make high profits or play a huge role in increasing the country's wealth through strategic reserves.

Which country is secretly hoarding Bitcoin in its state coffers? As far as I know, constitutionally they cannot do that, and everything related to national reserves or the use of taxpayers' money needs to be transparent.

If they recognize the potential of bitcoin and believe that it will benefit the national economy. Why are they only using the confiscated bitcoins instead of allocating national budget to buy more?

Ultimately, the purpose of strategic reserves is to protect and ensure economic security, and they are only to be used in emergencies. Therefore, the government does not seek profit from these assets, but prioritizes safety, liquidity, and stability. That is why no government has yet considered adding bitcoin to its national reserves.

[WhoYouCantKill]

Government has no need for Bitcoin to have control over it. They are in need of it to observe, hedge, and partake. Bitcoin provides a transparent international ledger, an option B settlement rail outside the influence of politics, and a hedge over monetary instability. Without gaining control, overlooking it risks falling behind financially and geopolitical aspect. Adoption is less about authority and more of relevance in a world changing monetarily.

[Z_MBFM]

Someone said something on Altcointalk and it got me thinking why do government need Bitcoin?
Yes I'm genuinely curious. I'm not talking about generic answers like making a strategic reserve or the likes
Something that would make them neglect the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and doesn't need a Central Authority.

Since Bitcoin is a decentralized currency and it can be transacted internationally without any hassle and since it is completely blockchain technology, there is a permanent record of all transactions which no one has the power to delete. For this reason, if the governments of all countries in the world start using Bitcoin, the process of transactions from various imports and exports will be easier. And for those who do import and export business, payment transactions will become easier. So not only the government but the whole world needs Bitcoin and the international sector. But so far the whole world is not fully ready for it.

[Dunamisx]

Government will like to adopt the use of bitcoin for so many reasons, but due to the way OP wanted his response on this thread, am much convinced that the blockchain technology upon which the bitcoin network is built is one of the reason they will also consider for bitcoin, because it is well secured, transparent and immutable, being an open distributed ledger, we can use the blockchain technology for various applications aside the bitcoin adoption we already get used to, which the government have seen as added advantage upon themselves if they uses bitcoin for their long time profiting.

[Ivystar5]

You want to know the truth? government want bitcoin to keep the control they have and keep people under their ruling force, if anything that is not part of the plans of controling everyone and not letting people move from a particular strata to another or anything that will make the people raise against the injustice the government practice on people or just for people to begin to get overly eye open in what is happening and how much control they have over peoples lives and how they mess up our lives to keep their flowing, their will be a very dangerous up raise of people against governments, so they have to be involved and scare anything that has the intention bitcoin once had or was coming up with, like Monero. the more private our life becomes the harder it is to control us so they can't do anything as they do now so they try to be overly involved and still make the most money out of it and the users or lovers.

In general, it all makes sense. Governments will likely move in this direction quietly and step by step, simply because they don’t want to lose control over the regulations they’ve put in place, or over the narratives they’ve already shaped.

They still rely heavily on banks, and that’s really the point. As long as people continue to use their services, many sectors will remain profitable. But regardless of how the story is framed, the financial world keeps moving forward, and people are becoming more selective with their choices. Financial technology, after all, is not something that can be easily dominated.

Which is a very good reason why I personally do not agree that the government will ever be part of bitcoin for any good reason if not to reap it off and maybe cripple it to the extent that it becomes just an asset that will probably become uninteresting as it is right now.

The need for bitcoin partnership with government institutions is just to make sure that since peopleove the idea of bitcoin so much so that they can't lose to that ideology, so they come up with if they can't stop it play along and control the indepts of it and everything will be fine their will be no need to question our actions, that's just exactly how it's playing out and I hope bitcoin doesn't loss itself to government interest by forcing it to become what we wouldn't agree to on a normal. I'm even afraid of what will happen to bitcoin in the future with their involvements.

[Kelvinid]

I believe its still based on profits and incentives, nothing more. Just like any regular bitcoin investor. But the question is, if they have a strong urge to accumulate bitcoin, why do they keep attacking bitcoin instead of welcoming it? Just because bitcoin is decentralized and they can't gain the full control on it?

I am sensing that the government until now is still hesitant about bitcoin. That is why instead of encouraging the people to start studying bitcoin, they end up doing the opposite thing, and scare the people that bitcoin isn't reliable and stable enough, and that may only end up as a get-rich-quick scheme.

[Alone055]

Governments don't need Bitcoin. They just want to ensure there's nothing left they can't control. If they hold a significant amount of coins, they can control this market, manipulate it if necessary and regulate prices as they see fit.

Just as they have control over other financial instruments, they don't want to stay away from cryptocurrencies either. At least that's how the governments of developed countries see it. They've wised up now, realizing they can't defeat Bitcoin, they want to control it as much as possible.

They can't regulate the prices or have control over only holding a significant amount of coins, they can manipulate the price only by doing that and they don't care about that at all, because all they care about is having control over the network, and that's not possible. This is the reason why governments are usually against Bitcoin because they know that no matter how many regulations they put, they can't control its network and the wallets that are non-custodial, and they don't like that even if they don't show it to the public.

Their control over the financial instruments within their country is a different thing because those institutions are completely centralized, and they can easily access all the data and everything they have and they are legally allowed to do that, unfortunately. This is why so many people don't like the current financial system because it allows the government to peek into your financial holdings and your financial activities, and you basically have no privacy with them.