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> What we know now, is that making something illegal, could make it stronger. If Bitcoin becomes illegal in most country, would the price go up or down? Suddenl

by rifung 7y ago

> What we know now, is that making something illegal, could make it stronger. If Bitcoin becomes illegal in most country, would the price go up or down? Suddenly there is a black market, and opens up a whole other can of worms, so governments might not be able to simply outlaw it. It's not as though drugs became more popular because they became illegal. Prices may have gone up because they were harder to obtain and there's less competition. Demand was still there because.. well people like doing drugs or are addicted to them. With Bitcoin, why would a business risk legal action to accept it? There's very little incentive as far as I can tell.

rmilejczz 7y ago
But they didn’t become less popular either, and instead continued to rise and grow in popularity. That’s the point, outlawing it won’t stop it. If bitcoins were illegal then I imagine they would probably only be used in illegal transactions.
- kebman 7y ago
  To clarify: Necessarily, if Bitcoin was illegal, any transaction with it would of course be illegal. :p That isn't to say that any and all transactions made with it, would be for the exchange of illegal goods. You can of course also use Bitcoin for the exchange of legal goods, but taking Bitcoin even for legal goods, would hence be illegal. In any case, just like people speeding, drinking moonshine, or enjoying marijuana where it's not allowed, I'm just as sure that very few would care.
FillardMillmore 7y ago
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I do think there's an allure to things that have been banned or that are illegal. For example, how many young music listeners would want to listen to an album even more after Tipper Gore managed to push through that 'Parental Advisory' warning on the front of albums? This is not exactly a completely relevant example, but Colorado did see a decrease in teen marijuana use after marijuana was legalized recreationally (granted, it has also recently seen a decrease in teen heroin use, so the legal status may not be directly causal, but I find it interesting nonetheless): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/11/following-marijuana-legalization-teen-drug-use-is-down-in-colorado/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/11/follo... Regarding Bitcoin, one incentive might be positive press coverage - a PR move, so to say, such as when APMEX, the popular online precious metals exchange began accepting Bitcoin in late 2017: https://www.coindesk.com/major-gold-dealer-apmex-begins-accepting-bitcoin https://www.coindesk.com/major-gold-dealer-apmex-begins-acce... Many of these cryptocurrencies have non-profit foundations that push for adoption by getting ad-space at major events and pushing for the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in certain companies. Litecoin has the 'Litecoin Foundation' and they managed to get advertising for Litecoin in some UFC events. More often than not, I think partnerships like these make for good PR for both companies involved - here's a piece on why the Litecoin Foundation thought that this particular partnership was useful: https://litecoin-foundation.org/litecoin-ufc/ https://litecoin-foundation.org/litecoin-ufc/

by rifung 7y ago

rmilejczz 7y ago

But they didn’t become less popular either, and instead continued to rise and grow in popularity. That’s the point, outlawing it won’t stop it. If bitcoins were illegal then I imagine they would probably only be used in illegal transactions.

kebman 7y ago
To clarify: Necessarily, if Bitcoin was illegal, any transaction with it would of course be illegal. :p That isn't to say that any and all transactions made with it, would be for the exchange of illegal goods. You can of course also use Bitcoin for the exchange of legal goods, but taking Bitcoin even for legal goods, would hence be illegal. In any case, just like people speeding, drinking moonshine, or enjoying marijuana where it's not allowed, I'm just as sure that very few would care.

FillardMillmore 7y ago

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I do think there's an allure to things that have been banned or that are illegal. For example, how many young music listeners would want to listen to an album even more after Tipper Gore managed to push through that 'Parental Advisory' warning on the front of albums? This is not exactly a completely relevant example, but Colorado did see a decrease in teen marijuana use after marijuana was legalized recreationally (granted, it has also recently seen a decrease in teen heroin use, so the legal status may not be directly causal, but I find it interesting nonetheless): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/11/following-marijuana-legalization-teen-drug-use-is-down-in-colorado/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/11/follo... Regarding Bitcoin, one incentive might be positive press coverage - a PR move, so to say, such as when APMEX, the popular online precious metals exchange began accepting Bitcoin in late 2017: https://www.coindesk.com/major-gold-dealer-apmex-begins-accepting-bitcoin https://www.coindesk.com/major-gold-dealer-apmex-begins-acce... Many of these cryptocurrencies have non-profit foundations that push for adoption by getting ad-space at major events and pushing for the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in certain companies. Litecoin has the 'Litecoin Foundation' and they managed to get advertising for Litecoin in some UFC events. More often than not, I think partnerships like these make for good PR for both companies involved - here's a piece on why the Litecoin Foundation thought that this particular partnership was useful: https://litecoin-foundation.org/litecoin-ufc/ https://litecoin-foundation.org/litecoin-ufc/