Will government stop Bitcoin?

[tadakaluri]

Very Old Article but good notable points........

[2btc]

I don't think any gov could stop it even if they wanted to, however they can do their best limit people using it by restricting people from buying things with it or making it illegal to do so. People would still find an underground use for it, though.

[thejaytiesto]

They cant stop it unless they stop every single computer connected to the internet.

[Q7]

Are you saying we are going to shut down the internet?

[Beliathon]

No, but blockchain technology may one day transcend the need for government, along with state violence. Perhaps some sort of sovereign internet hive mind will emerge. Or we can all burn in nuclear fire because we trusted (any) nation states with the power of (and competence in ethical duty to keep secure) WMDs for one day longer than we should have.

Worse still, given exponential pace of technology, it is conceivable in the near future that 3 people in a garage will be able to build a homemade weapon of mass destruction. Certainly if true general AI emerges within the next few decades. Bill Gates recently said we need a world government. I'd like to believe that if we had one, their first act would be to dismantle all nuclear arms wordwide, and ban them forever.

related:
Virtual currencies can challenge the sovereignty of states
Bitcoin: Economy of the Eternal Now

[TalkTalk]

Fair points. Whoever controls the money, controls people. If people can reach the degree of consensus to be able to control their money, they will more likely accept their responsibilities and fully regain their liberal rights. Until humans are capable of such a consensus, the governments will do whatever possible to substitute these rights with an illusion of equality.

No matter how sad the prognosis, the article concludes with a suggestion that the debt economy will crash in the future.

[DieJohnny]

The amount of freedom they will have to revoke to completely destroy Bitcoin would be enough to get them into hot water with the people who blindly hand them power. It's a win-win IMO (either Bitcoin allows us to enjoy monetary freedom or in the attempt to destroy it, they highlight their true colors and end up where so many tyrants have ended up before).

Interesting times we live in.

Taking freedom is just one attack vector. attacks will come soon

[manselr]

The amount of freedom they will have to revoke to completely destroy Bitcoin would be enough to get them into hot water with the people who blindly hand them power. It's a win-win IMO (either Bitcoin allows us to enjoy monetary freedom or in the attempt to destroy it, they highlight their true colors and end up where so many tyrants have ended up before).

Interesting times we live in.

Taking freedom is just one attack vector. attacks will come soon

Bitcoin whales have the infrastructure to start their own internets.
Also with Maid we'll not need ISP in the future.

[12345mm]

The end goal of all human action is to create utopia on earth ...

[Ingramtg]

 ;Dgovernment  can. not stop bitcoin because bitcoin is decentralized
but i think government  can control bitcoin, s  price

[dsly]

;Dgovernment  can. not stop bitcoin because bitcoin is decentralized
but i think government  can control bitcoin, s  price

I doubt that can happen. In order to dump bitcoins they will have to purchase it.  ANd the price will keep going up if they keep purchasing.

However, if they decide to dump confiscated bitcoins, then that might be one way for them to get the price back down.

[pereira4]

Are you saying we are going to shut down the internet?

What if they buy shit tons of btc and sell it cheap to crash? or start mining a lot and do a 51% attack?
other than that i see no risks.

[HarmonLi]

Well, governments can actually make it very hard for people to use Bitcoin, obtain it, or whatever. Sure, they most likely can't shut down the whole network due to its decentralized nature, but they can effectively dry out the usability of it in their own jursidiction. I think if countries really see Bitcoin as a threat, rather than an opportunity, they'd already have taken appropriate measures - which some countries have already done.

[riptide]

I don't think the government could stop Bitcoin directly. The could however, kill the internet or regulate it in such a way to prevent Bitcoin from working.

[ronaldo40]

I don't think the government could stop Bitcoin directly. The could however, kill the internet or regulate it in such a way to prevent Bitcoin from working.

like blocking sites about bitcoin?

and if this will work? whereas many ways to access blocked sites cmiiw

[tss]

Wow, I bow to the stupidity of 'mericans.
By that I mean the "article" it self, and some comments here.
I thought that might be an interesting thread, but, boy, was I wrong.

MURICA.. FUCK YEA!

[funtotry]

Its impossible to stop the network, they would have to go to the homes of every single owner of bitcoin (not even traceable to that) and then all the bitcoin businesses to stop it, and then hope that the users will not use it again, but if one person opens up the program and still mines, it is still alive, so think about it like that.

[Drummer]

its possible but bitcoin will never stop
it will still rise and fall

[QuestionAuthority]

Governments cannot stop Bitcoin. The users, developers and businesses supporting Bitcoin will do that. Bitcoin's concepts, ideals, design and success are being annexed by so many different groups it's only a matter of time before it becomes a shell of its former self. Apathy in the form of progress will destroy Bitcoin. Governments need only wait for the inevitable outcome.

[Bitware]

Will government stop Bitcoin?

What the fuck are you talking about?

At every turn, government continually legitimizes Bitcoin.