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Access is not the same as ownership. Your account can be frozen and confiscated with little recourse.
by doggosphere 6y ago
Access is not the same as ownership.
Your account can be frozen and confiscated with little recourse.
- gamblor956 6y agoYour account can be frozen and confiscated, but you have legal recourse. There are several anti-forfeiture legal groups that will take these cases on for free as a matter of principle (and because they generally get court-ordered legal fees from the prosecuting agency if they defeat the forfeiture).
- doggosphere 6y agoOh, you're assuming the legal system is the same everywhere in the world as the US. Let assume the person is in China. Or Venezuela.
- gamblor956 6y agoIn China or Venezuela, if your bank account is seized by the government, it's because you're already in prison, so not having access to money will be the least of your concerns. Rather, you will be worried about whether you'll ever get to leave prison, or more immediately, what form of mistreatment you will receive from the guards and whether the rest of your family was rounded up as accomplices for whatever alleged crimes you were charged with (if any).
- doggosphere 6y agoAnd amongst that, the property remains out the hands of the government. Perhaps it will be one day be moved and utilized by family descendants, whom have had time to find themselves in safer conditions. That's the difference.
- gamblor956 6y agoTrue, but you can do that far easier with existing assets. Authoritarian countries can always simply block their citizens' access to exchanges, and even just outlaw crypto ownership.
- doggosphere 6y agoIn a near future, we might not even need exchanges. Pay your rent with crypto. Buy groceries with it. Even if its outlawed, that only slows it down at scale. People will still accept it if it has value. Drugs/prostitution/contraband can be traded even in the places where it is most strictly punished, outlawing it does nothing.