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What makes now a politically opportune moment?

berkes 6y ago
'Now' being 'the moment you can easily win'?
adventured 6y ago
That depends on who you think is pulling the strings behind the scenes. The bankers are loaded with Bitcoin now (with Bitcoin having gone fully mainstream on Wall Street), so maybe it's time to eliminate/weaken some of the perceived competition. Or, because Bitcoin is at $22,500 and they'd like to tarnish the crypto market a bit if they can, cast it as a shady place, drive down institutional interest via scandal and government prosecution. It's a plausible serious competitor to fiat currencies in the coming decades. The ideal scenario for the major central banks - they who rule fiat - is that Bitcoin goes to zero. The clowns that run this world frequently view gold as a problem, a threat, and they work hard to suppress its value. They also occasionally get caught doing so. If they can figure out a good way to do it, they may assault the value of Bitcoin, directly or indirectly, given the chance. Who has a vested interest in not seeing fiat currencies weaken as the central financial instrument of every major economy? Pretty much everyone that controls everything today, the entrenched. And one other very plausible reason: this is being fired off just before an administration switch-over, because the people that have pushed for it may think it'll get lost in the shuffle, as the new administration will have its own priorities it will want pursued (such that this could get pushed down the list or neglected). It often happens in government right before admin switch-over, it's why all the anti-trust cases were rushed and fired off right before the presidency changes hands.
- aww_dang 6y ago
  >The clowns that run this world frequently view gold as a problem, a threat, and they work hard to suppress its value. They also occasionally get caught doing so. If they can figure out a good way to do it, they may assault the value of Bitcoin, directly or indirectly, given the chance. How do you feel about the theory of BTC acting as a controlled opposition to gold? I find it interesting that the same CNBC commentators who slam gold promote BTC as "digital gold". If gold is so useless in their eyes, why is intangible "digital gold" being pushed? Despite the anti-establishment veneer of BTC, it is accepted and promoted by the MSM. Gold is still derided. There's a parallel with the captured, walled-garden Internet. BTC's lack of usability, Mnuchin's words on self-hosted wallets all point to this so called disruptive technology being captured. Similarly, platforms like PayPal taking an interest in BTC point in the same direction. Looks more and more like a steppingstone, positioning of goal posts towards CBDC.
octoberfranklin 6y ago
Uh, the new Treasury rules applying the Bank Secrecy Act to cryptocurrency transfers to self-hosted wallets? Announced three days ago. Public comment period ends right after New Year's.

'Now' being 'the moment you can easily win'?

That depends on who you think is pulling the strings behind the scenes. The bankers are loaded with Bitcoin now (with Bitcoin having gone fully mainstream on Wall Street), so maybe it's time to eliminate/weaken some of the perceived competition. Or, because Bitcoin is at $22,500 and they'd like to tarnish the crypto market a bit if they can, cast it as a shady place, drive down institutional interest via scandal and government prosecution. It's a plausible serious competitor to fiat currencies in the coming decades. The ideal scenario for the major central banks - they who rule fiat - is that Bitcoin goes to zero. The clowns that run this world frequently view gold as a problem, a threat, and they work hard to suppress its value. They also occasionally get caught doing so. If they can figure out a good way to do it, they may assault the value of Bitcoin, directly or indirectly, given the chance. Who has a vested interest in not seeing fiat currencies weaken as the central financial instrument of every major economy? Pretty much everyone that controls everything today, the entrenched. And one other very plausible reason: this is being fired off just before an administration switch-over, because the people that have pushed for it may think it'll get lost in the shuffle, as the new administration will have its own priorities it will want pursued (such that this could get pushed down the list or neglected). It often happens in government right before admin switch-over, it's why all the anti-trust cases were rushed and fired off right before the presidency changes hands.

aww_dang 6y ago
>The clowns that run this world frequently view gold as a problem, a threat, and they work hard to suppress its value. They also occasionally get caught doing so. If they can figure out a good way to do it, they may assault the value of Bitcoin, directly or indirectly, given the chance. How do you feel about the theory of BTC acting as a controlled opposition to gold? I find it interesting that the same CNBC commentators who slam gold promote BTC as "digital gold". If gold is so useless in their eyes, why is intangible "digital gold" being pushed? Despite the anti-establishment veneer of BTC, it is accepted and promoted by the MSM. Gold is still derided. There's a parallel with the captured, walled-garden Internet. BTC's lack of usability, Mnuchin's words on self-hosted wallets all point to this so called disruptive technology being captured. Similarly, platforms like PayPal taking an interest in BTC point in the same direction. Looks more and more like a steppingstone, positioning of goal posts towards CBDC.

octoberfranklin 6y ago

Uh, the new Treasury rules applying the Bank Secrecy Act to cryptocurrency transfers to self-hosted wallets? Announced three days ago. Public comment period ends right after New Year's.