Why Bitcoin so popular in Discussions about government taking over the economy?

[420]

why is bitcoin so popular in Russia?

[SaintFlow]

How popular is it?

[420]

How popular is it?

this forum 3,652 site in russia

[Nefario]

I will be speaking about bitcoin at the eletronic money forum in Moscow this October.

[420]

I will be speaking about bitcoin at the eletronic money forum in Moscow this October.

great. how long do you speak for?

[vampire]

I will be speaking about bitcoin at the eletronic money forum in Moscow this October.

October 4-5? I will be in Moscow. I need to register, how much is it anyway?

[Rarity]

why is bitcoin so popular in Russia?

As I've mentioned before, Bitcoin is a very good match for socialist/communist governments.  There are a lot of people in Russia who long for the good old days of the USSR.  That was a failed model and has really set back leftist politics around the world but that doesn't change how some in Russia felt about it and their status as a superpower.  They want to go back to the old ways of a state controlled, regulated, and monitored economy that strives for universal welfare and Bitcoin is the best modern tool we have to facilitate that.

[myrkul]

why is bitcoin so popular in Russia?

As I've mentioned before, Bitcoin is a very good match for socialist/communist governments.  There are a lot of people in Russia who long for the good old days of the USSR.  That was a failed model and has really set back leftist politics around the world but that doesn't change how some in Russia felt about it and their status as a superpower.  They want to go back to the old ways of a state controlled, regulated, and monitored economy that strives for universal welfare and Bitcoin is the best modern tool we have to facilitate that.

[molecular]

I will be speaking about bitcoin at the eletronic money forum in Moscow this October.

cool! but watch out, in soviet russia, bitcoin mines you!

[Clipse]

why is bitcoin so popular in Russia?

As I've mentioned before, Bitcoin is a very good match for socialist/communist governments.  There are a lot of people in Russia who long for the good old days of the USSR.  That was a failed model and has really set back leftist politics around the world but that doesn't change how some in Russia felt about it and their status as a superpower.  They want to go back to the old ways of a state controlled, regulated, and monitored economy that strives for universal welfare and Bitcoin is the best modern tool we have to facilitate that.

About Bitcoin:

state controlled ? No.
regulated ? No.
monitored ? Yes, but each address is like verifying sand on a beach.
universal welfare ? No. You still need to own up, nothing is free except with Bitcoins there is a much more even playing field.

You need the blue pill sir.

[Rarity]

You have to think of Bitcoin as a natural resource like gold or other metals.  In its wild, natural state it is not government controlled or regulated but you can easily use it as a store of value within your controlled and monitored system.  

In the case of Bitcoin, you would not alter the technical workings of the Bitcoin network itself, you would simply create whitelisted wallets which would be the only ones allowed to engage in commerce within your country.  That way the monitoring is easy and you can control your economy to a greater degree than at any other time in human history.  It's fairly obvious to me Satoshi is a socialist, I know a lot of folks around here disagree but I've always felt the libertarian attraction to Bitcoin is slightly insane.

In fact, I think it's possible Satoshi set it up this way as a honeypot for libertarian types so they will be knee deep in the Bitcoin economy when the shifts toward socialism start to come. Once they see how natural, effective, and appropriate an evolutionary development that is for an economy they will become socialists themselves.  You are already seeing a lot of folks calling for government intervention in the free market to help recover stolen funds since they are unhappy with the free market solution of partial or no refunds.  

[Rarity]

You do realize that the users will have to accept government regulation of the block chain. Anyone who doesn't can continue to use Bitcoin as they see fit.

They can use it as they see fit, aside from purchasing anything legally from a legitimate business within the country. 

I'm not sure if you've looked at prohibition throughout history and the results, but prohibiting non-whitelisted addresses will certainly back fire in the face of anyone who attempts it.

There is no need to prohibit them in the sense you have to seize a dangerous shipment of marijuana from violent crimianls or smash a whiskey barrel.  All you have to do is use automated systems to watch out for prohibited transactions.  Once you eliminate the white collar element that really facilitates the crimes by laundering the money there won't be any profit left in it for anyone.

[myrkul]

You do realize that the users will have to accept government regulation of the block chain. Anyone who doesn't can continue to use Bitcoin as they see fit.

They can use it as they see fit, aside from purchasing anything legally from a legitimate business within the country. 

Well, Let's ask Dread Pirate Roberts if he has any problems with that, shall we?

[Rarity]

You do realize that the users will have to accept government regulation of the block chain. Anyone who doesn't can continue to use Bitcoin as they see fit.

They can use it as they see fit, aside from purchasing anything legally from a legitimate business within the country.  

Well, Let's ask Dread Pirate Roberts if he has any problems with that, shall we?

I asked him, he told me, "I gave up pirating when it became impossible to use the currency I stole to buy anything and I could not sell any cargo I stole because I did not have access to a white listed wallet."

Pirates operate in areas of anarchy and insufficient government control, an economy like this would be the last place you would find them. 

[myrkul]

You do realize that the users will have to accept government regulation of the block chain. Anyone who doesn't can continue to use Bitcoin as they see fit.

They can use it as they see fit, aside from purchasing anything legally from a legitimate business within the country.  

Well, Let's ask Dread Pirate Roberts if he has any problems with that, shall we?

I asked him, he told me, "I gave up pirating when it became impossible to use the currency I stole to buy anything and I could not sell any cargo I stole because I did not have access to a white listed wallet."

Pirates operate in areas of anarchy and insufficient government control, an economy like this would be the last place you would find them. 

Yup! That's why there was no Black market whatsoever in Soviet Russia...

Oh, er...

[Rarity]

You do realize that the users will have to accept government regulation of the block chain. Anyone who doesn't can continue to use Bitcoin as they see fit.

They can use it as they see fit, aside from purchasing anything legally from a legitimate business within the country.  

Well, Let's ask Dread Pirate Roberts if he has any problems with that, shall we?

I asked him, he told me, "I gave up pirating when it became impossible to use the currency I stole to buy anything and I could not sell any cargo I stole because I did not have access to a white listed wallet."

Pirates operate in areas of anarchy and insufficient government control, an economy like this would be the last place you would find them.  

Yup! That's why there was no Black market whatsoever in Soviet Russia...

Oh, er...

They had no Bitcoin, bringing us back around to square one here.  It also didn't help that they went to far in eradicating consumer input into the system.  Your ideal Socialist Bitcoin state will still have a free market, it will just also have extremely strong social safety nets and measures to make sure some folks don't accumulate too much of the wealth.  A hybrid system promotes the best welfare for all.  Your best model is really post-WWII USA but with Bitcoins to make sure corruption doesn't eventually allow too much of the wealth to go into one place, the extreme taxation of the rich to lapse, and the middle class protections to collapse.  

[myrkul]

They had no Bitcoin, bringing us back around to square one here.  

What differentiates Bitcoin from Dollars that allows government control?

[Rarity]

They had no Bitcoin, bringing us back around to square one here.  

What differentiates Bitcoin from Dollars that allows government control?

The transaction tracking.  It's vastly easier to launder paper fiat money than it is electronic currency with a full transaction log. 

[myrkul]

They had no Bitcoin, bringing us back around to square one here.  

What differentiates Bitcoin from Dollars that allows government control?

The transaction tracking.  It's vastly easier to launder paper fiat money than it is electronic currency with a full transaction log. 

I see... and if this transaction log shows your government-approved whitelist addresses getting almost no traffic, while the rest of the addresses get plenty, what then?

[Rarity]

They had no Bitcoin, bringing us back around to square one here.  

What differentiates Bitcoin from Dollars that allows government control?

The transaction tracking.  It's vastly easier to launder paper fiat money than it is electronic currency with a full transaction log. 

I see... and if this transaction log shows your government-approved whitelist addresses getting almost no traffic, while the rest of the addresses get plenty, what then?

You audit and arrest people conducting business illegally.  If a business is running without taking in any legal currency or paying taxes it will be fairly obvious when all legitimate business is tracked.