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Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good. Cryptocurrencies are scam and outright bubble that will bring down the world economy. There is no currency with

by thkim 9y ago

Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good. Cryptocurrencies are scam and outright bubble that will bring down the world economy. There is no currency without an authority to guarantee its value. Cryptos are pure bubble. If there is any good in this thing, it's ease of transaction, which is a question of underlying technology - it has nothing to do with lack of authority or decentralized scheme that cryptocurrencies tout as so important (and fail to deliver).

noarchy 9y ago
The good news for the rest of us is that it is very difficult to "ban" cryptocurrencies. That's a feature of them, of course. You can try to crack down on exchanges and methods for converting crypto to/from state-backed currencies, but that doesn't actually stop crypto.
- thkim 9y ago
  you can make it illegal for a bank to do business with crypto exchanges like what SK is doing right now. If all G10 currency do this then it can kill the bubble in crypto. I actually think this is a better move for crypto's future.
  - noarchy 9y ago
    I suspect we'll see other states angling to see what kind of tax revenue they can squeeze out of crypto, rather than banning it. The problem, of course, is how to set up such a system. They can enforce it with the exchanges (witness the recent IRS request that Coinbase faced) and banks. It will be hard to cover all crypto transactions.
  - passwordreset 9y ago
    I see you haven't answered giblaz's questions yet. Valid answers to his questions would clear up much of the confusion about your arguments. Please answer his questions, and continue. How would G10 nations kill the crypto bubble by banning Bitcoin business by banks? Why is this a better move for crypto's future?
giblaz 9y ago
> Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good. Strong statement but if you have a valid argument then I can be convinced. > Cryptocurrencies are scam and outright bubble that will bring down the world economy. And that's not an argument, that is purely speculation as well. > There is no currency without an authority to guarantee its value. There is now, they're called cryptocurrencies. > Cryptos are pure bubble. 2 things: 1. What's the difference between a pure and impure bubble? 2. Why is it a bubble? > If there is any good in this thing, it's ease of transaction, which is a question of underlying technology - it has nothing to do with lack of authority or decentralized scheme that cryptocurrencies tout as so important (and fail to deliver). ? This doesn't seem to mean anything. Please explain?
jabgrabdthrow 9y ago
Would you feel better if people stopped calling it a currency? Also do they really have to ban it, can’t they just seize it all? It might be really embarrassing if we ban it and all the capital flees to Russia.
- thkim 9y ago
  any country that allows crypto as an asset will risk an enormous bubble in their economy. it will eventually suck up all capital from other asset class, because crypto can never lose value unless people stop believing in it. the only reason why people believe in crypto as an asset is because the price keeps rising, and it's because there is limited supply. it is exactly same as how art market works. if anyone fully understands what this means then they will know cryptos are extremely dangerous.
  - jabgrabdthrow 9y ago
    So bitcoin is like art-as-store-of-value, that makes sense, it could lose 100% of its value unlike national currencies which can only suffer 91% loss in case of a bank run and only 99.9% loss in case of hyperinflation. Does your portfolio account for nuclear war?
    - thkim 9y ago
      the reason why crypto is dangerous is because it's very, very easy to get a piece of it. it is open to anyone and you can buy for just a dollar. this drives up price unlike anything out there. yes anything can be a store of value with enough people believing in it. bitcoin succeeded in generating large enough followers to drive up its price like crazy. if it continues, it will suck up capital from all other asset classes - which in turn create a huge global inflation. losing value is one problem and the global inflation crypto will bring, if left unregulated, is another problem.
      - passwordreset 9y ago
        I'm sorry, but the statement "crypto is dangerous [...] because it's very, very easy to get a piece of it" is just batshit. I can very, very easily get many, many things, and most of those things aren't really dangerous. There is no correlation between how easy a thing is to get and how dangerous it is. You're being tolerated because most of the people here seem very nice and they allow that sort of thing, but I felt spouting insanity like you do over and over, well, that sort of thing should be called out. Apologies to the offended. Bitcoin has many problems. That it's somehow bad because "you can buy for just a dollar" is not even close. The argument could be made to say that statement isn't even realistic. Why would someone pay $1 for Bitcoin and then $10-20 in transaction fees? Pragmatically, this would be an immediate, minimum 80% loss of value. One would think that to be enough of a disincentive to "buy for just a dollar", no?
glorkk 9y ago
> Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good. Serious question: how would you go about “banning” cryotocurrencies? The most you can do is close exchanges which would make crypto harder to acquire and liquidate.
- kazagistar 9y ago
  Arrest and jail anyone known to buy or sell any amount of the currency, for cash of other other goods. Ban any comapny that trades in botcoin from doing an buisness in thr country. Sure, you can keep your wallet, but as soon as you try to exchange it for anything else, you are risking jail time... very few people would bother.
- WJW 9y ago
  _If_ I wanted do this (and was a government): - Prohibit trading of cryptocurrencies, punishable by several years in prison if caught. Structure it so that you can personally go to prison even if you did it as part of a business. This should 'discourage' casual investors. - Pass a law stating banks can lose their banking license if they allow transactions from/to crypto exchanges. Basically, declare cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook. Obviously the real hardcore crypto lovers will still keep using it, and it will also not deter criminals who were outside of the 'regular' system anyway. But if you have a functioning law enforcement system like most western countries, you could certainly keep cryptocurrencies from playing any large role in your economy.
  - passwordreset 9y ago
    Would it not be the case that declaring "cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook" is a recipe for disaster? None of the drugs laws have really worked out all that well, as they've led to mass incarceration which has a high social cost. Many people seem to want drugs. Banning them often increases the price, due to the supply going down or being more costly to obtain versus a constant demand. To follow the same playbook, there seems to be a non-zero chance that Bitcoin would become rarer, and therefore more valuable, and therefore more attractive than fiat, increasing demand even more. I think it's a crap-shoot what role cryptocurrencies would play after a large-scale ban. But, yeah, _if_ I wanted to do that, and I was a government, that would probably be the way I'd do it.
adsfasdf2332 9y ago
This could potentially completely shift the world economy, but not because it is a bubble. The fact that cryptocurrencies don't need an authority to guarantee it's value is exactly the point of cryptocurrencies. The value is in the mathematically unforgeable ledger, and the network that remains secure even after 7 years of the juiciest, sweetest honeypot ever presented to hackers.
bilbosmegma 9y ago
Well it's a good thing the US won't do this. Considering the SEC just said ICOs are legit, and we now have Bitcoin futures. But maybe you can go back in time and buy some and you won't be so salty.
deleted 9y ago
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deleted 9y ago
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by thkim 9y ago

noarchy 9y ago

The good news for the rest of us is that it is very difficult to "ban" cryptocurrencies. That's a feature of them, of course. You can try to crack down on exchanges and methods for converting crypto to/from state-backed currencies, but that doesn't actually stop crypto.

thkim 9y ago
you can make it illegal for a bank to do business with crypto exchanges like what SK is doing right now. If all G10 currency do this then it can kill the bubble in crypto. I actually think this is a better move for crypto's future.
- noarchy 9y ago
  I suspect we'll see other states angling to see what kind of tax revenue they can squeeze out of crypto, rather than banning it. The problem, of course, is how to set up such a system. They can enforce it with the exchanges (witness the recent IRS request that Coinbase faced) and banks. It will be hard to cover all crypto transactions.
- passwordreset 9y ago
  I see you haven't answered giblaz's questions yet. Valid answers to his questions would clear up much of the confusion about your arguments. Please answer his questions, and continue. How would G10 nations kill the crypto bubble by banning Bitcoin business by banks? Why is this a better move for crypto's future?

giblaz 9y ago

> Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good. Strong statement but if you have a valid argument then I can be convinced. > Cryptocurrencies are scam and outright bubble that will bring down the world economy. And that's not an argument, that is purely speculation as well. > There is no currency without an authority to guarantee its value. There is now, they're called cryptocurrencies. > Cryptos are pure bubble. 2 things: 1. What's the difference between a pure and impure bubble? 2. Why is it a bubble? > If there is any good in this thing, it's ease of transaction, which is a question of underlying technology - it has nothing to do with lack of authority or decentralized scheme that cryptocurrencies tout as so important (and fail to deliver). ? This doesn't seem to mean anything. Please explain?

jabgrabdthrow 9y ago

Would you feel better if people stopped calling it a currency? Also do they really have to ban it, can’t they just seize it all? It might be really embarrassing if we ban it and all the capital flees to Russia.

thkim 9y ago
any country that allows crypto as an asset will risk an enormous bubble in their economy. it will eventually suck up all capital from other asset class, because crypto can never lose value unless people stop believing in it. the only reason why people believe in crypto as an asset is because the price keeps rising, and it's because there is limited supply. it is exactly same as how art market works. if anyone fully understands what this means then they will know cryptos are extremely dangerous.
- jabgrabdthrow 9y ago
  So bitcoin is like art-as-store-of-value, that makes sense, it could lose 100% of its value unlike national currencies which can only suffer 91% loss in case of a bank run and only 99.9% loss in case of hyperinflation. Does your portfolio account for nuclear war?
  - thkim 9y ago
    the reason why crypto is dangerous is because it's very, very easy to get a piece of it. it is open to anyone and you can buy for just a dollar. this drives up price unlike anything out there. yes anything can be a store of value with enough people believing in it. bitcoin succeeded in generating large enough followers to drive up its price like crazy. if it continues, it will suck up capital from all other asset classes - which in turn create a huge global inflation. losing value is one problem and the global inflation crypto will bring, if left unregulated, is another problem.
    - passwordreset 9y ago
      I'm sorry, but the statement "crypto is dangerous [...] because it's very, very easy to get a piece of it" is just batshit. I can very, very easily get many, many things, and most of those things aren't really dangerous. There is no correlation between how easy a thing is to get and how dangerous it is. You're being tolerated because most of the people here seem very nice and they allow that sort of thing, but I felt spouting insanity like you do over and over, well, that sort of thing should be called out. Apologies to the offended. Bitcoin has many problems. That it's somehow bad because "you can buy for just a dollar" is not even close. The argument could be made to say that statement isn't even realistic. Why would someone pay $1 for Bitcoin and then $10-20 in transaction fees? Pragmatically, this would be an immediate, minimum 80% loss of value. One would think that to be enough of a disincentive to "buy for just a dollar", no?

glorkk 9y ago

> Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good. Serious question: how would you go about “banning” cryotocurrencies? The most you can do is close exchanges which would make crypto harder to acquire and liquidate.

kazagistar 9y ago
Arrest and jail anyone known to buy or sell any amount of the currency, for cash of other other goods. Ban any comapny that trades in botcoin from doing an buisness in thr country. Sure, you can keep your wallet, but as soon as you try to exchange it for anything else, you are risking jail time... very few people would bother.
WJW 9y ago
_If_ I wanted do this (and was a government): - Prohibit trading of cryptocurrencies, punishable by several years in prison if caught. Structure it so that you can personally go to prison even if you did it as part of a business. This should 'discourage' casual investors. - Pass a law stating banks can lose their banking license if they allow transactions from/to crypto exchanges. Basically, declare cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook. Obviously the real hardcore crypto lovers will still keep using it, and it will also not deter criminals who were outside of the 'regular' system anyway. But if you have a functioning law enforcement system like most western countries, you could certainly keep cryptocurrencies from playing any large role in your economy.
- passwordreset 9y ago
  Would it not be the case that declaring "cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook" is a recipe for disaster? None of the drugs laws have really worked out all that well, as they've led to mass incarceration which has a high social cost. Many people seem to want drugs. Banning them often increases the price, due to the supply going down or being more costly to obtain versus a constant demand. To follow the same playbook, there seems to be a non-zero chance that Bitcoin would become rarer, and therefore more valuable, and therefore more attractive than fiat, increasing demand even more. I think it's a crap-shoot what role cryptocurrencies would play after a large-scale ban. But, yeah, _if_ I wanted to do that, and I was a government, that would probably be the way I'd do it.

adsfasdf2332 9y ago

This could potentially completely shift the world economy, but not because it is a bubble. The fact that cryptocurrencies don't need an authority to guarantee it's value is exactly the point of cryptocurrencies. The value is in the mathematically unforgeable ledger, and the network that remains secure even after 7 years of the juiciest, sweetest honeypot ever presented to hackers.

bilbosmegma 9y ago

Well it's a good thing the US won't do this. Considering the SEC just said ICOs are legit, and we now have Bitcoin futures. But maybe you can go back in time and buy some and you won't be so salty.

deleted 9y ago

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deleted 9y ago

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