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There are lots of examples of governments or large organisations taking down networks with single points of failure, but far fewer examples of taking down highl

There are lots of examples of governments or large organisations taking down networks with single points of failure, but far fewer examples of taking down highly distributed networks like Bitcoin. I don't think this fight is a foregone conclusion. I think it would be difficult to write a law that would make Bitcoin illegal, without making things like MMO currencies or SSL certificates illegal.

zacharypinter 16y ago
One guess is they might write a law that requires U.S.-based online businesses to collect certain information about the transactions they accept that would make accepting bitcoins illegal.
- vessenes 16y ago
  This is called a 'know your customer' plan, and it's already in place and the law for all banks and money transfer businesses. Accepting BitCoins won't be illegal if you have a know your customer plan. Of course, it won't be pseudonymous at that point, either.
- gaius 16y ago
  Exactly. The choke point is the same as it for poker: you need the retail banking system to convert your bitcoins or your poker chips to and from something ordinary people can actually spend. Underneath every technical system is other ordinary people who need to pay their bills and mortgages and taxes - you can't not have this capability. And the banking system is highly regulated and will do whatever the govt requires it to do via the regulator.
- weavejester 16y ago
  That wouldn't necessarily make accepting bitcoins illegal, it would just make accepting bitcoins from anonymous sources illegal. I think they'd also have a hard time justifying why I can buy a product anonymously in cash (or with a pre-paid VISA), but I can't buy a product anonymously using bitcoins. Particularly since bitcoins have less anonymity than cash, because a history of all transactions is maintained.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
Duff 16y ago
From a practical standpoint, Bitcoin has other problems for using it in a real business -- mainly the fact that taxes are only payable in the coin of the realm. If you are a real, legal business, do you want your entire personal and business future contingent on the ability to exchange bitcoin with dollars?
- weavejester 16y ago
  You don't have to put all your eggs in one basket. You could accept payment in dollars and bitcoins, and exchange the bitcoins for dollars the day you receive it. If the bitcoin market suddenly crashes, you'd only lose the amount you hadn't managed to exchange for dollars.
  - Duff 16y ago
    If you do that, what's the advantage of bitcoin?
    - noahc 16y ago
      Currency Diversification. The point being that at the end of each day/week/month you can cash it out for dollars/euro/yen. That's the idea anyway. I'm not sure how practical it is!
    - weavejester 16y ago
      You can send bitcoins directly to a person's account without going through an intermediary, such as Paypal or a bank. This means that it would potentially be cheaper, but more importantly it would be easier to automate, and easier to start up interesting financial web apps.
      - pyre 16y ago
        Exactly. The vendor wouldn't be paying the tithe to the credit card processor.
        16y ago
daniel1980fl 16y ago
there is ONLY one money-printing machine in USA, it is a privately owned entity called "Federal Reserve", dont get fooled by "Federal" in the name (Federal Express is private company). everyone else coming up with more or less sophisticated machine to print money, or exchange money, or any form of transaction that Federal Government is unable to track/monitor/accept or deny WILL get hurt very badly. It is just a matter how popular your machine is and how much traction it is getting. But rest assured, once you turn it on, you have your own chart in the FBI system.
- ataggart 16y ago
  It is not useful to argue that the Fed is private, nor is it useful to argue that it is public. It is both and neither depending on which stance will serve its interests at the time.
Groxx 16y ago
>far fewer examples of taking down highly distributed networks like Bitcoin. There are plenty of examples of the reverse, however. Bittorrent continues to thrive.

zacharypinter 16y ago

One guess is they might write a law that requires U.S.-based online businesses to collect certain information about the transactions they accept that would make accepting bitcoins illegal.

vessenes 16y ago
This is called a 'know your customer' plan, and it's already in place and the law for all banks and money transfer businesses. Accepting BitCoins won't be illegal if you have a know your customer plan. Of course, it won't be pseudonymous at that point, either.
gaius 16y ago
Exactly. The choke point is the same as it for poker: you need the retail banking system to convert your bitcoins or your poker chips to and from something ordinary people can actually spend. Underneath every technical system is other ordinary people who need to pay their bills and mortgages and taxes - you can't not have this capability. And the banking system is highly regulated and will do whatever the govt requires it to do via the regulator.
weavejester 16y ago
That wouldn't necessarily make accepting bitcoins illegal, it would just make accepting bitcoins from anonymous sources illegal. I think they'd also have a hard time justifying why I can buy a product anonymously in cash (or with a pre-paid VISA), but I can't buy a product anonymously using bitcoins. Particularly since bitcoins have less anonymity than cash, because a history of all transactions is maintained.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

Duff 16y ago

From a practical standpoint, Bitcoin has other problems for using it in a real business -- mainly the fact that taxes are only payable in the coin of the realm. If you are a real, legal business, do you want your entire personal and business future contingent on the ability to exchange bitcoin with dollars?

weavejester 16y ago
You don't have to put all your eggs in one basket. You could accept payment in dollars and bitcoins, and exchange the bitcoins for dollars the day you receive it. If the bitcoin market suddenly crashes, you'd only lose the amount you hadn't managed to exchange for dollars.
- Duff 16y ago
  If you do that, what's the advantage of bitcoin?
  - noahc 16y ago
    Currency Diversification. The point being that at the end of each day/week/month you can cash it out for dollars/euro/yen. That's the idea anyway. I'm not sure how practical it is!
  - weavejester 16y ago
    You can send bitcoins directly to a person's account without going through an intermediary, such as Paypal or a bank. This means that it would potentially be cheaper, but more importantly it would be easier to automate, and easier to start up interesting financial web apps.
    - pyre 16y ago
      Exactly. The vendor wouldn't be paying the tithe to the credit card processor.
      - 16y ago

daniel1980fl 16y ago

there is ONLY one money-printing machine in USA, it is a privately owned entity called "Federal Reserve", dont get fooled by "Federal" in the name (Federal Express is private company). everyone else coming up with more or less sophisticated machine to print money, or exchange money, or any form of transaction that Federal Government is unable to track/monitor/accept or deny WILL get hurt very badly. It is just a matter how popular your machine is and how much traction it is getting. But rest assured, once you turn it on, you have your own chart in the FBI system.

ataggart 16y ago
It is not useful to argue that the Fed is private, nor is it useful to argue that it is public. It is both and neither depending on which stance will serve its interests at the time.

Groxx 16y ago

>far fewer examples of taking down highly distributed networks like Bitcoin. There are plenty of examples of the reverse, however. Bittorrent continues to thrive.