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> An official cryptocurrency run by the Reserve Bank of India defeats one of the main selling points of a decentralized cryptocurrency... You can still have a

> An official cryptocurrency run by the Reserve Bank of India defeats one of the main selling points of a decentralized cryptocurrency... You can still have a centralized token asset as your currency. It defeats the purpose of open source and public blockchain utility, but gives a government massive control over its currency.

teawrecks 6y ago
But then what's the point? You can already achieve the same outcome way more efficiently using existing centralized methods.
- doovd 6y ago
  Ye idk what the guy above you was trying to say TBH
- gogopuppygogo 6y ago
  Better tools to government surveillance of citizens is the goal
- chii 6y ago
  > using existing centralized methods. gives them an excuse to ban an uncontrollable currency/asset. But the paradoxical thing is that if the gov't creates their own crypto they control (and ban the "real" decentralized crypto), they give legitimacy to the idea of crypto, and thus, make bitcoins and other uncontrollable cryptos even more popular. You can't actually ban crypto, anymore than you can ban maths.
  - londons_explore 6y ago
    A government could totally ban crypto. If I wanted to do so as a leader I would: * Log which citizens visited any crypto related domains (exchanges, crypto wallet app servers etc.) * Make a law banning the holding or exchange of crypto. Give everyone 1 week to comply. * Make a government address to send coins to for disposal, and publish a form to fill in to say you have disposed of your holdings. * Contact everyone in your log telling they need to fill in the form (even to declare they no longer have any holdings). * After the deadline, arrest anyone who has not filled in the form or who declares zero holdings and subsequently visits exchanges etc. * Sure, this method will miss some who carefully use tor. But that's a tiny minority. *
    - spiorf 6y ago
      Countermeasures: * Move coins to cold storage wallet. * Memorize seed phrase. * Destroy written copies. * Walk casually through checks at airport or frontier as a tourist, carrying nothing but chlothes. * Do whatever you want to do with your money. You can choose to leave your country for good taking your wealth with you against your government laws, if things get really bad.
      - londons_explore 6y ago
        Except the act of filling in the form claiming to hold no bitcoins, while one actually having a seed phrase hidden constitutes fraud. The government can issue an arrest warrant for you, and have you extradited from wherever you went. Figuring out who to arrest is harder, but it's a pretty small pool of people heavily invested in bitcoin who have suddenly vanished abroad flouting lots of cash with no obvious source...
      - bollu 6y ago
        How precisely does one "leave their country for good"? Do you seek asylum? You can't actually just hop on a flight and go live someplace else without a visa, and that takes months to process.
      - canadianfella 6y ago
        Chlothes
- m-p-3 6y ago
  I guess one benefit is that the ledger is publicly viewable, so that would increase transparency. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

teawrecks 6y ago

But then what's the point? You can already achieve the same outcome way more efficiently using existing centralized methods.

doovd 6y ago
Ye idk what the guy above you was trying to say TBH
gogopuppygogo 6y ago
Better tools to government surveillance of citizens is the goal
chii 6y ago
> using existing centralized methods. gives them an excuse to ban an uncontrollable currency/asset. But the paradoxical thing is that if the gov't creates their own crypto they control (and ban the "real" decentralized crypto), they give legitimacy to the idea of crypto, and thus, make bitcoins and other uncontrollable cryptos even more popular. You can't actually ban crypto, anymore than you can ban maths.
- londons_explore 6y ago
  A government could totally ban crypto. If I wanted to do so as a leader I would: * Log which citizens visited any crypto related domains (exchanges, crypto wallet app servers etc.) * Make a law banning the holding or exchange of crypto. Give everyone 1 week to comply. * Make a government address to send coins to for disposal, and publish a form to fill in to say you have disposed of your holdings. * Contact everyone in your log telling they need to fill in the form (even to declare they no longer have any holdings). * After the deadline, arrest anyone who has not filled in the form or who declares zero holdings and subsequently visits exchanges etc. * Sure, this method will miss some who carefully use tor. But that's a tiny minority. *
  - spiorf 6y ago
    Countermeasures: * Move coins to cold storage wallet. * Memorize seed phrase. * Destroy written copies. * Walk casually through checks at airport or frontier as a tourist, carrying nothing but chlothes. * Do whatever you want to do with your money. You can choose to leave your country for good taking your wealth with you against your government laws, if things get really bad.
    - londons_explore 6y ago
      Except the act of filling in the form claiming to hold no bitcoins, while one actually having a seed phrase hidden constitutes fraud. The government can issue an arrest warrant for you, and have you extradited from wherever you went. Figuring out who to arrest is harder, but it's a pretty small pool of people heavily invested in bitcoin who have suddenly vanished abroad flouting lots of cash with no obvious source...
    - bollu 6y ago
      How precisely does one "leave their country for good"? Do you seek asylum? You can't actually just hop on a flight and go live someplace else without a visa, and that takes months to process.
    - canadianfella 6y ago
      Chlothes
m-p-3 6y ago
I guess one benefit is that the ledger is publicly viewable, so that would increase transparency. Maybe I'm wrong about that?