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I mean, as soon as I read through the whitepaper I knew it was going to be valuable at least for a time. My primary reason for selling most of my Bitcoins at $2

I mean, as soon as I read through the whitepaper I knew it was going to be valuable at least for a time. My primary reason for selling most of my Bitcoins at $200 a coin was that I thought it was obvious that the US would ban it. I made out like a bandit, don't get me wrong, but the fact that it's an accepted investment still boggles my mind. They shutdown eGold but not Bitcoin?! Crazypants. In retrospect, I think the primary reason they haven't is a real politik appraisal of the good crypto does to our cybersecurity. Finally attackers have a way to extract money from the entities they hack, rather than selling access or information to third parties. Even so, it still boggles the mind. It's so lawless and anarchistic.

joshuakelly 6y ago
There's still time for the course to change, you might prove right in the long run - the average Hacker News reader's parents weren't even alive when EO 6102 happened, which seems wild to us now. The threat of shutdown seems less pertinent than the threat of outright state seizure, similarly to EO 6102. EDIT: I meant of course our parents, not us - there might be a few 90-year old readers among us though :)
AuryGlenz 6y ago
I bought in late (at $79, so..) and not nearly enough because I knew eGold’s history as well. I then later lost some on btce. I suppose I should be happy that’s my biggest regret in life but this year in particular it really hurts every time I think of it. My business was hit hard by COVID and my wife and I started IVF after 3 years of trying. It’s crazy how a bit of knowledge can drastically alter your life.
- ant6n 6y ago
  Yeah, it’s fun too think about how many bits of information being sent back in time to yourself would be needed to become a billionaire. The message should be understandable to your Younger self, and you also need to convince them.
intotheabyss 6y ago
I mean, eGold needed an intermediary so it was centralized. Pretty easy to shut down eGold. Not so for Bitcoin. Maybe the fact that it's still running is a testament to its decentralization?
- 3pt14159 6y ago
  They way they would ban it if they wanted to ban it would be to get the West to collectively tie its use to economic sanctions and also to specific individuals. Huge fine for use, restricted travel to the US and her allies, and punishing sanctions for financial systems or corporations that defect. There you go. No more buying drugs on the dark web for 99.99% of the people that currently do so.

joshuakelly 6y ago

There's still time for the course to change, you might prove right in the long run - the average Hacker News reader's parents weren't even alive when EO 6102 happened, which seems wild to us now. The threat of shutdown seems less pertinent than the threat of outright state seizure, similarly to EO 6102. EDIT: I meant of course our parents, not us - there might be a few 90-year old readers among us though :)

AuryGlenz 6y ago

I bought in late (at $79, so..) and not nearly enough because I knew eGold’s history as well. I then later lost some on btce. I suppose I should be happy that’s my biggest regret in life but this year in particular it really hurts every time I think of it. My business was hit hard by COVID and my wife and I started IVF after 3 years of trying. It’s crazy how a bit of knowledge can drastically alter your life.

ant6n 6y ago
Yeah, it’s fun too think about how many bits of information being sent back in time to yourself would be needed to become a billionaire. The message should be understandable to your Younger self, and you also need to convince them.

intotheabyss 6y ago

I mean, eGold needed an intermediary so it was centralized. Pretty easy to shut down eGold. Not so for Bitcoin. Maybe the fact that it's still running is a testament to its decentralization?

3pt14159 6y ago
They way they would ban it if they wanted to ban it would be to get the West to collectively tie its use to economic sanctions and also to specific individuals. Huge fine for use, restricted travel to the US and her allies, and punishing sanctions for financial systems or corporations that defect. There you go. No more buying drugs on the dark web for 99.99% of the people that currently do so.