What is stopping Gov't from starting their own blockchain...

[RodeoX]

thus taking advantage of the utility of bitcoin but leaving all current bitcoin holders with a lesser used (and therefore lower value) currency?

Sorry if this has been asked before.

I'd say their nature prevents it.
...

I like this reasoning. Speaking as an American, the only time I see government get their collective ass moving is when they stand to gain. How do you make a state legalize drugs? Give them a cut. Want conceal carry in your state? Show them how much they can make from selling permits.
It's sad to say, but congress especially only acts on their own personal issues. That's why Wall Street can steal from you in the light of day, but if an airline makes some congressman wait on the tarmac for an hour we get a "Passengers' Bill of Rights".
They will never institute a system that takes away their ability to manipulate your money.  

[1714868394]

1714868394

[BTConomist]

thus taking advantage of the utility of bitcoin but leaving all current bitcoin holders with a lesser used (and therefore lower value) currency?

If that were to happen, then control over the monetary policy would shift from financiers to citizens;... hence, goodbye economic waste (the source of wealth for most politicians).

[Rassah]

Simple short answer is that nobody would mine it, making it a non starter.

[jago25_98]

 I think this is one of the big threats to Bitcoin.

CentralBank (not to be confused with gov) see Bitcoin,
 decides if you can't beat them, join them.

Starts own blockchain,
possibly premines a load...
 and tweaks the protocol to thier advantage while...
buying up a load of internet connectivity structure.

 It's a threat, yeah.

Fortunately it seems unlikely.


 Then again, perhaps the Gnostic religion was right,
there really is an intelligent robot like entity out there that is influencing humanity towards artificial stuff because it's too far to travel here right now. And Bitcoin is it's masterpiece!

[bb113]

The ultra-rich are the last line of defense between now and a robotic dystopia. Without them to protect us it is hopeless.

[rjk]

The ultra-rich are the last line of defense between now and a robotic dystopia. Without them to protect us it is hopeless.

Bahahahaha

[reg]

to all clever people on this thread- has any one noticed the proportional large increase in the "unknown" block hash rate on bitcoin charts.  What if unknown = FED and its approaching 51% is not this a concern to anyone but me?  . reg.

[bittenbob]

to all clever people on this thread- has any one noticed the proportional large increase in the "unknown" block hash rate on bitcoin charts.  What if unknown = FED and its approaching 51% is not this a concern to anyone but me?  . reg.

its called ppl started mining again because it once again became profitable

[reg]

thanks- I noticed the increase in price and a leveling off, as long as unknown are mostly independent miners thats reasuring. reg.

[bittenbob]

There are a lot of pools not listed on their options. I for one mine at ABCPool which is not on there and their total hash is 485Ghash or roughly 5%. I know there are a number of other pools not listed. I am not concerned at all.

[a63ntsm1th]

Lets say the government is libertarian.

I lol'd

Ron Paul wont win, as much as we would like to dream he could.

[PrintCoins]

This would be good for small countries where faith is low in its ability to manage its mint.

I could see it done like this:

* Make it so that there is a fixed inflation rate of X% per year (so more coins are generated each year)
* Of the coins that are produced in mining, half go to the miner, half go to the government associated with the block chain
* Implement merged mining from the start and set it up so mining for bitcoin will also get you coins for said government blockchain.

The government would automatically collect the taxes off the inflation of the currency, which would eliminate the need to extract taxes off of the citizens. Also, the currency would appear around the world, so this would create immediate exports to other countries, which would increase economic activity. Exports also tend to be easily taxed (they all have to go through ports).

The government would have the immediate first flow of the currency, and it could use that to create whatever programs it wanted to pay for in the country.

Each government could implement its own local currency this way, and with merged mining, miners could and up with a bundle of coins for a variety of countries.

If the government wanted to restrict mining to internal to the country, that could be done as well, where a miner license key would need to be used as part of the basis of the hashing algorithm. Being a savy politico, this could also be something that needs to be paid for.

The benefits of a government bitcoin system is that it can create a sound currency that is free from manipulation, but can still be milked some for direct government spending (possibly eliminating a tax collection system), and some control could be placed on who can mine coins.

[giszmo]

Simple short answer is that nobody would mine it, making it a non starter.

LukeJR would "mine" it