How the government view Bitcoin

[qiwoman2]

Two countries I really admire, and I call them the role models, are El Salvador and Bhutan. They have a nice hoard, and the last I heard now is the government of Butan now pays all of its civil servants from the profits they make mining BTC. Plus, they have one of the biggest hoards, especially for a small country. I don't know where Bitocin will go with the advent of AI and quantum computing, but I do think it still has a huge influence on where governance can actually go. Bhutan using all that excess hydropower has made one of the best moves it could ever make. Now they plan on building an eco-tech megacity to keep all the brain drain from drying up all their young, bright minds.

[hmbdofficial]

I'm trying to make sense of some of the things you wrote there. For instance:

The view of some government on Bitcoin as not a currency but taxable property or a commodity is tremendous outspoken especially in a countries with religion and high volume of Crypto transactions

How does the view of your government have anything to do with religion and the volume of transactions made in crypto? Okay, I get your drift now. The country's authorities are concerned that most of the funds being chanelled towards crypto are better directed to the banks?

I think that has been the concern of many finance departments, but that concern is easily checked through proper regulation and taxation.

I also have to read it over again to give it a second thought on how the religion or belief of a particular nation will have any impact on the volume of transactions made in crypto. but i later realize that some people are regarding some feature in the bitcoin trading as haram. particularly the Islamic nation that always try to make clear distinction in clean money an bad money. i don't think such country's concern is that the funds channeled to bitcoin should rather be directed to the bank. i think it gats to do more of if the money is lawful or not .     

[#CapsLOck]

What's fascinating is that governments don't necessarily have to regulate Bitcoin usage by controlling the Bitcoin itself. They can concentrate on exchanges, banks, payment processors and the number of times BTC is converted into fiat. This is also why even a private wallet is acceptable for holding coins when taxed. The blockchain doesn't have to be permissionless, but the surrounding financial infrastructure is far easier for governments to regulate. So, I believe it is not if but how much a government can regulate in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

[Issa56]

The biggest obstacle to government adoption is the inability to control Bitcoin, a country's government can independently manage the economy of that country. They can print fiat if they want and control the country's financial institutions.

That’s why most governments are just against bitcoin, they know they can’t control bitcoin, so they are fighting against it. Government wants a currency which they will be able to control, but they can’t achieve that with bitcoin. It funnies me whenever I see some people talking about how bitcoin is completely going to replace fiat in the future, but I know it’s not going to be possible.

we have seen how different countries have tried to stop bitcoin early, the more they try, the more awareness bitcoin get. Even my country tried to stop people from making crypto transactions, the CBN were banning accounts that were connected to crypto transactions, but they already lifted the ban because they couldn’t achieve what they want, and there was a change in government which changed everything.

[ndutndut]

The biggest obstacle to government adoption is the inability to control Bitcoin, a country's government can independently manage the economy of that country. They can print fiat if they want and control the country's financial institutions.

That’s why most governments are just against bitcoin, they know they can’t control bitcoin, so they are fighting against it. Government wants a currency which they will be able to control, but they can’t achieve that with bitcoin. It funnies me whenever I see some people talking about how bitcoin is completely going to replace fiat in the future, but I know it’s not going to be possible.

we have seen how different countries have tried to stop bitcoin early, the more they try, the more awareness bitcoin get. Even my country tried to stop people from making crypto transactions, the CBN were banning accounts that were connected to crypto transactions, but they already lifted the ban because they couldn’t achieve what they want, and there was a change in government which changed everything.

Yeah. That's why at first many countries wanted to fight BTC because the biggest obstacle is really the loss of their control. I mean, governments are used to printing money, setting interest rates and controlling the flow of capital through the banking system. The arrival of decentralized Bitcoin with a limited supply removes what every country is doing today, so many countries feel threatened and choose to reject or restrict its use in various ways.

But what actually happened with these efforts to ban it by each country is that it actually raised awareness among many people. This happened in my country, so the government stopped banning it and yes, all they do now is take a fee when transactions are made within the exchange. But clearly instead of wanting to fight Bitcoin it has actually continued to grow as a reserve asset or a hedge.

[Ryu_Ar1]

The biggest obstacle to government adoption is the inability to control Bitcoin, a country's government can independently manage the economy of that country. They can print fiat if they want and control the country's financial institutions. Due to this unique and distinctive feature of Bitcoin and its limited supply, it become a store of value and the number of holders is increasing.

That is what has happened in recent years and although they tried many things including banning and making the media one of the weapons to weaken bitcoin in the end this did not work and currently the government is taking a more subtle approach.

Currently, although the government knows they cannot trade bitcoin, adoption will continue to occur due to several factors, especially for now bitcoin can also be used as one of the tools for the formation of strategic reserves and making bitcoin as an avoidance of geopolitical sanctions that occur and we have seen this when geopolitical Wars always occur.  So by seeing this momentum, even though the government cannot fully control bitcoin, they realize that avoiding it is not the answer, so they are now taking an approach that leads to adoption.
I honestly don't like the government's way but with the current conditions it can also be a stepping stone for bitcoin to be increasingly accepted even though the government's goal of making bitcoin another focus is not like the original intention.

[Junii]

The view of some government on Bitcoin as not a currency but taxable property or a commodity is tremendous outspoken especially in a countries with religion and high volume of Crypto transactions, the government monitored the inflows and payments made through this digital assets like in Nigeria during the former President of Nigeria, no deposit was done from your account to crypto wallets or crypto wallets to your account because of the huge transactions deviating from physical Banks to internet but some others saw Bitcoin has added value assets like US where they delegates part of funds from government treasury bill was invested to boost the economy of the country through solid digital assets like Bitcoin. But now different changes has occurr in many of this country's perspective of crypto as a taxable investment.

I think the government of majority countries realize that controlling bitcoin is challenging what if we use it for our economic interest like regulate it in a country and then finding a proper channel that how can we generate income from it for example few years ago in our country there were also restrictions in using bitcoin and there transactions but now government regulate it because the inflow and outflow is good and they are preparing to impose a tax on the users that are involve in trading and investing in bitcoin and other different crypto currencies. 

[Nanga Parbat]

Yeah. That's why at first many countries wanted to fight BTC because the biggest obstacle is really the loss of their control. I mean, governments are used to printing money, setting interest rates and controlling the flow of capital through the banking system. The arrival of decentralized Bitcoin with a limited supply removes what every country is doing today, so many countries feel threatened and choose to reject or restrict its use in various ways.

But what actually happened with these efforts to ban it by each country is that it actually raised awareness among many people. This happened in my country, so the government stopped banning it and yes, all they do now is take a fee when transactions are made within the exchange. But clearly instead of wanting to fight Bitcoin it has actually continued to grow as a reserve asset or a hedge.

Mostly governments are understanding that controlling or having regulations is going to be not easy for them. Just because of this, now they are bringing things that will help them have revenue and more taxes. It's always favorable for them through exchanges. Just because of this, now they are bringing tough regulations for them and having restrictions, which are helping them stay streamlined. To some good things happening in the last few years, even though many countries are considering this as their reserves. Accepting new dimensions and giving good facilities to their peoples is always a good way of good governance. It's surely not easy, but due to good awareness now, many countries are doing positive things for the use of bitcoin.

[lionheart78]

I think the government of majority countries realize that controlling bitcoin is challenging what if we use it for our economic interest like regulate it in a country and then finding a proper channel that how can we generate income from it for example few years ago in our country there were also restrictions in using bitcoin and there transactions but now government regulate it because the inflow and outflow is good and they are preparing to impose a tax on the users that are involve in trading and investing in bitcoin and other different crypto currencies. 

Bitcoin's nature of being decentralized already sealed that the government will never control Bitcoin unless the protocol changes.  All the effort of the government and any centralized institution is working around the decentralization of Bitcoin and creating a centralized ecosystem on top of the decentralized blockchain for them to control.

The government always look on anything as a taxable subject.  So whenever there is a new entity, the government always wants to regulate and see where they can tax that entitty.

[MusaPk]

Bitcoin's nature of being decentralized already sealed that the government will never control Bitcoin unless the protocol changes.  All the effort of the government and any centralized institution is working around the decentralization of Bitcoin and creating a centralized ecosystem on top of the decentralized blockchain for them to control.

The government always look on anything as a taxable subject.  So whenever there is a new entity, the government always wants to regulate and see where they can tax that entitty.

The government clearly understand what decentralised Bitcoin is for them and this is main reason why we are seeing restrictions on usage of decentralised Bitcoin in most countries. There are countries which have allowed use of Bitcoin after doing proper regulations just to make sure government can tax the holders of Bitcoin and that just kills the concept of decentralised Bitcoin. I agree that possibility is very low that government will ever accept decentralised Bitcoin in future.

[Compromise me]

I also have to read it over again to give it a second thought on how the religion or belief of a particular nation will have any impact on the volume of transactions made in crypto. but i later realize that some people are regarding some feature in the bitcoin trading as haram. particularly the Islamic nation that always try to make clear distinction in clean money an bad money. i don't think such country's concern is that the funds channeled to bitcoin should rather be directed to the bank. i think it gats to do more of if the money is lawful or not .     

Understanding about technology is  important because religious influences have changed it, clearly showing the history of how they worked and then bringing changes because at the start they never understood, but as time goes on, it has more clarity, which allows people to have faith in their own few Islamic countries that are believing in business.

Developing countries, which have more population and potential, always stay between haram and halal because they always stay behind and never try to catch momentum, which is usually important in the near future when more things will be open. Most chances will all be clear for this bitcoin and crypto as halal without having any doubt because of its shape of technology and good use of P2P.

[Agathamay]

The view of some government on Bitcoin as not a currency but taxable property or a commodity is tremendous outspoken especially in a countries with religion and high volume of Crypto transactions, the government monitored the inflows and payments made through this digital assets like in Nigeria during the former President of Nigeria, no deposit was done from your account to crypto wallets or crypto wallets to your account because of the huge transactions deviating from physical Banks to internet but some others saw Bitcoin has added value assets like US where they delegates part of funds from government treasury bill was invested to boost the economy of the country through solid digital assets like Bitcoin. But now different changes has occurr in many of this country's perspective of crypto as a taxable investment.

The government first saw bitcoin as a threat and later reality can as well earn from it and that was the wrongest thing that happened to bitcoin because ever since the involvement of government in bitcoin, the privacy at some point started getting bridged and it feels like we all traded our privacy with government involvement in the system because I've seen a lot of post of people getting excited when a country adopts bitcoin which yes gave it alot of exposure but also made some high level of privacy reduced drastically.

[LuckyCrypto777]

The view of some government on Bitcoin as not a currency but taxable property or a commodity is tremendous outspoken especially in a countries with religion and high volume of Crypto transactions, the government monitored the inflows and payments made through this digital assets like in Nigeria during the former President of Nigeria, no deposit was done from your account to crypto wallets or crypto wallets to your account because of the huge transactions deviating from physical Banks to internet but some others saw Bitcoin has added value assets like US where they delegates part of funds from government treasury bill was invested to boost the economy of the country through solid digital assets like Bitcoin. But now different changes has occurr in many of this country's perspective of crypto as a taxable investment.

In the country where I live, the government sees Bitcoin as a missed opportunity to make money.
Banks naively believe that those who invest in Bitcoin are depriving these same banks of potential deposit investors. But who needs these deposits anyway? This is crap that, at best, exceeds the actual inflation rate in the country. And often, it's lower.
Internal economic investigation agencies see Bitcoin as a means for criminals to break the law.

Basically, the system is multilayered.

[Fiasem20]

Right from the onset governments haven’t viewed bitcoin in a positive way,they only consider the negative aspects of what people would use bitcoin for,like for instance citizens involving themselves in fraudulent/illegal activities with bitcoin,bad people using bitcoin for illegal activities doesn’t completely mean bitcoin was designed to promote illegal activities even the fiat that happens to be the national currency used in the country can still be used to scam people,so what makes the difference exactly?it’s even easier to track a fraudulent transaction on the public blockchain due to it’s transparency but in the traditional banking setting you will have to pass through several and tiring processes just to track a fraudulent transaction.Even governments that were bitcoin haters are now embracing the market,so it just a matter of time everything would be alright.

[Giwagi56]

The view of some government on Bitcoin as not a currency but taxable property or a commodity is tremendous outspoken especially in a countries with religion and high volume of Crypto transactions, the government monitored the inflows and payments made through this digital assets like in Nigeria during the former President of Nigeria, no deposit was done from your account to crypto wallets or crypto wallets to your account because of the huge transactions deviating from physical Banks to internet but some others saw Bitcoin has added value assets like US where they delegates part of funds from government treasury bill was invested to boost the economy of the country through solid digital assets like Bitcoin. But now different changes has occurr in many of this country's perspective of crypto as a taxable investment.

There is nothing the government can do about bitcoin, they have said it many times that they will even arrest anyone that made a transaction from their bank account to crypto wallet but they can not do anything about it, because they are the one who is responsible for everything that is happening in the country, if they do not want to citizens to what they don’t want, they should provide them with a job, good jobs that can pay all their bills.

From my own understanding, the Nigeria government are just doing unnecessary things, because they can not get any profit or benefit from crypto that is why they are doing all these things, they should also know that it is not every citizen that will become successful in their own way, many citizens are going to become successful and live a good life through crypto.

[moneystery]

...
Bhutan using all that excess hydropower has made one of the best moves it could ever make. Now they plan on building an eco-tech megacity to keep all the brain drain from drying up all their young, bright minds.

Bhutan is an example of how a country with limited resources can use Bitcoin for the development of their nation. Their decision to allocate some of their surplus resources to Bitcoin mining recently has paid off for them. It helps them pay their civil servant salaries and can even help them realize their dream city, which can generate more investment and taxes for their country.
If they had not taken the opportunity to mine Bitcoin a few years ago, they might have continued to rely solely on income from their agricultural and electricity exports, but Bitcoin has allowed them to accelerate their country's development.

[DatabaseNational]

If Bitcoin mining revenue is being used for public projects, I’d like to see a clear breakdown of operating costs and where the proceeds go. The Bhutan example would be more informative with those figures, rather than just the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

[free-bit.co.in]

The government first saw bitcoin as a threat and later reality can as well earn from it and that was the wrongest thing that happened to bitcoin because ever since the involvement of government in bitcoin, the privacy at some point started getting bridged and it feels like we all traded our privacy with government involvement in the system because I've seen a lot of post of people getting excited when a country adopts bitcoin which yes gave it alot of exposure but also made some high level of privacy reduced drastically.

But what do you think would be better, banning Bitcoin or making it legal? Do you think Bitcoin could still go mainstream and reach a multi trillion dollar mcap if government banned it?

As  for people getting excited about ETF, strategic Bitcoin reserves or countries legalizing Bitcoin, there's nothing wrong with that either.
What else can we do , really ? Is there any way to stop governments from  getting involved in the market?

[Appropriate_Gas]

I would separate allowing citizens to use Bitcoin from the government buying it for a reserve. Someone could support the first and still question the second. Which kind of government involvement are we discussing here?

[Dreadboost]

The view of some government on Bitcoin as not a currency but taxable property or a commodity is tremendous outspoken especially in a countries with religion and high volume of Crypto transactions, the government monitored the inflows and payments made through this digital assets like in Nigeria during the former President of Nigeria, no deposit was done from your account to crypto wallets or crypto wallets to your account because of the huge transactions deviating from physical Banks to internet but some others saw Bitcoin has added value assets like US where they delegates part of funds from government treasury bill was invested to boost the economy of the country through solid digital assets like Bitcoin. But now different changes has occurr in many of this country's perspective of crypto as a taxable investment.

I am still in limbo when government say they want to tax crypto especially Bitcoin, given the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, if I decide to hold for a long time, how possible will it be for government to be able to tax my crypto especially when it's not on centralized exchange. What really tickles my fantasy in this discussion of taxing crypto is the fact that, this is an asset that has a liquidating ability, and I bear the risk alone as an investor, so at what point does the government have the right to tax me when we don't share risk.

The government doesn't tax you while you hold your Bitcoin in a cold wallet but it is only when you swap, sell or spend the Bitcoin, that you get taxed. You are definitely using the cash system of the country which is why it would be hard for the fiat system to be eradicated.
As long as you are holding for long term, on a wallet, there isn't a realized profit and no government can tax your asset at that moment.

The purpose of buying Bitcoin is for storing value, transactions, long term investment, which one day the investment will be sold for profit. Long term investment does not guarantee that the Bitcoin won't be taxed, it is only delaying the tax through fees. No one knows if, in the future, when the investor wants to take out his bitcoin, the fees will be higher.