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Bitcoin is irrelevant, compared to still-tolerated and massively-more voluminous alternatives, for capital controls. This is a red herring. At one point all cr

Bitcoin is irrelevant, compared to still-tolerated and massively-more voluminous alternatives, for capital controls. This is a red herring. At one point all crypto had reached $160B in market cap. Not small at all and risked getting much larger. Lesson #1: if China wants something done they will do it. No courts, no public discussion, nothing. Don't be surprised if these execs end up in jail.

sitepodmatt 9y ago
It's refreshing that a country can act this quickly even if we don't agree with the action. In many countries this would require several meeting of understanding, a dozen committees forming sub-committees, accusations of corruptions and biased interest and several related court cases, and endless other shit. IMO it's actually a very smart move, to ensure a fair and complete dissolution, and if those execs dont have the bitcoin to distribute back to participants (i.e. they've been speculating or liquidating client BTC) then they're going to jail. China doesn't want the egg on face that Mt.gox / Mark Karpeles caused.
- donogh 9y ago
  Do you think there'll end up being due process with this approach? And fair trials? I wouldn't be so quick to endorse a dictatorship's approach to law and justice.
- Quarrelsome 9y ago
  > It's refreshing that a country can act this quickly I'll remind you of how refreshing it is when I drag your family off the gulag without warrant. Its not "refreshing", its scary.
  - sitepodmatt 9y ago
    First off - no one has been dragged off, they are merely preventing the exchange operators (that are originally resident in China anyway) from leaving the country until they execute an orderly shutdown. i.e. No holidays for now, we don't want you doing a MarkK. Also, we are talking China here not NK, but don't let the facts get in the way of your point. Btw, you do have "temporary injunctions" in other parts of the world too.
    - Chris2048 9y ago
      > no one has been dragged off same is as true for N. Korea
    - brianwawok 9y ago
      China sounds great, you should apply for citizenship?
      - issaria 9y ago
        Which is not so easy to get from what I heard of.
      - WithHighProb 9y ago
        It's almost impossible for foreigners
        baybal2 9y ago
        Not almost, there are whooping 48 or 49 naturalized Chinese citizens who got citizenship through means other than marriage since the naturalization law was introduced 1998
    - le-mark 9y ago
      That may all be true in this instance, but previously, executives have been executed for various things. The story I recall was some sort of fraud, but who knows what the real reason was. I don't have a reference handy unfortunately.
    - Quarrelsome 9y ago
      you're espousing the benefits of autocratic control. I am describing the trade-off. Sure, maybe China isn't dragging people off to gulags today but the point is that autocratic control means they can if they want to.
      - NotSammyHagar 9y ago
        They are kidnapping or taking people away still today. They are kidnapping people like the folks in hong kong who publish books the leaders don't like, here's an article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/china-behaving-like-gangster-state-with-bookseller-kidnap-say-hong-kong-politicians https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/china-behaving...
- greedo 9y ago
  Rule of law is important for civil society to function well in the long term...
- vturner 9y ago
  Thank-you for illustrating the reason we have elected, republican governments in the west and in addition have a non-popular voting system for the president in the United States(I don't mean the party of the same name, I mean the style of government). Despite the horrors history will offer up, we as a species continue to fail to comprehend the danger of a government unrestrained by its populace. We somehow think that we will create a government that can "move fast" but not abuse its capability to do so while we are proven wrong time and time again. Thus, limited governments ever suspect by their populace are necessary to ensure opinions as illustrated above do not come to bear...
- SkyMarshal 9y ago
  >It's refreshing that a country can act this quickly even if we don't agree with the action. Once you really consider that idea a bit more you may realize it's actually the exact opposite - it's refreshing when a powerful country can't move quickly, can't get anything done fast, and has tons of gridlock due to differing opinions combined with strongly institutionalized laws and procedures. Human beings are terribly whimsical creatures, and institutions that prevent us from acting on our whims and instead force us to go through a thoroughly deliberative process are one of mankind's greatest inventions.

sitepodmatt 9y ago

It's refreshing that a country can act this quickly even if we don't agree with the action. In many countries this would require several meeting of understanding, a dozen committees forming sub-committees, accusations of corruptions and biased interest and several related court cases, and endless other shit. IMO it's actually a very smart move, to ensure a fair and complete dissolution, and if those execs dont have the bitcoin to distribute back to participants (i.e. they've been speculating or liquidating client BTC) then they're going to jail. China doesn't want the egg on face that Mt.gox / Mark Karpeles caused.

donogh 9y ago
Do you think there'll end up being due process with this approach? And fair trials? I wouldn't be so quick to endorse a dictatorship's approach to law and justice.
Quarrelsome 9y ago
> It's refreshing that a country can act this quickly I'll remind you of how refreshing it is when I drag your family off the gulag without warrant. Its not "refreshing", its scary.
- sitepodmatt 9y ago
  First off - no one has been dragged off, they are merely preventing the exchange operators (that are originally resident in China anyway) from leaving the country until they execute an orderly shutdown. i.e. No holidays for now, we don't want you doing a MarkK. Also, we are talking China here not NK, but don't let the facts get in the way of your point. Btw, you do have "temporary injunctions" in other parts of the world too.
  - Chris2048 9y ago
    > no one has been dragged off same is as true for N. Korea
  - brianwawok 9y ago
    China sounds great, you should apply for citizenship?
    - issaria 9y ago
      Which is not so easy to get from what I heard of.
    - WithHighProb 9y ago
      It's almost impossible for foreigners
      - baybal2 9y ago
        Not almost, there are whooping 48 or 49 naturalized Chinese citizens who got citizenship through means other than marriage since the naturalization law was introduced 1998
  - le-mark 9y ago
    That may all be true in this instance, but previously, executives have been executed for various things. The story I recall was some sort of fraud, but who knows what the real reason was. I don't have a reference handy unfortunately.
  - Quarrelsome 9y ago
    you're espousing the benefits of autocratic control. I am describing the trade-off. Sure, maybe China isn't dragging people off to gulags today but the point is that autocratic control means they can if they want to.
    - NotSammyHagar 9y ago
      They are kidnapping or taking people away still today. They are kidnapping people like the folks in hong kong who publish books the leaders don't like, here's an article https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/china-behaving-like-gangster-state-with-bookseller-kidnap-say-hong-kong-politicians https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/china-behaving...
greedo 9y ago
Rule of law is important for civil society to function well in the long term...
vturner 9y ago
Thank-you for illustrating the reason we have elected, republican governments in the west and in addition have a non-popular voting system for the president in the United States(I don't mean the party of the same name, I mean the style of government). Despite the horrors history will offer up, we as a species continue to fail to comprehend the danger of a government unrestrained by its populace. We somehow think that we will create a government that can "move fast" but not abuse its capability to do so while we are proven wrong time and time again. Thus, limited governments ever suspect by their populace are necessary to ensure opinions as illustrated above do not come to bear...
SkyMarshal 9y ago
>It's refreshing that a country can act this quickly even if we don't agree with the action. Once you really consider that idea a bit more you may realize it's actually the exact opposite - it's refreshing when a powerful country can't move quickly, can't get anything done fast, and has tons of gridlock due to differing opinions combined with strongly institutionalized laws and procedures. Human beings are terribly whimsical creatures, and institutions that prevent us from acting on our whims and instead force us to go through a thoroughly deliberative process are one of mankind's greatest inventions.