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Stupid question: Could the state (or a large group of states) not effectively impose restrictions on bitcoin wallets? Say, I, the federal agency of crypto, publ
by choeger 6y ago
Stupid question: Could the state (or a large group of states) not effectively impose restrictions on bitcoin wallets? Say, I, the federal agency of crypto, publish a list of "legal" (i.e., with owners know to me and subject to my rules) wallets today and demand that everyone that accepts bitcoinust verify that the transaction comes from such a legal wallet (except for everything happening before today). Accepting anything else is a criminal act (like money laundering). Registering existing wallets, dealing with multiple jurisdictions, mining, and creating new wallets are technical details.
I think two things could happen: Either, Bitcoin collapses and vanishes into the darknet, because no one can buy anything legally with it. Or, if enough owners agree and register, it becomes fully transparent for the state, effectively making it useless for criminal payments.
- lazide 6y agoDoing something similar with cocaine, marijuana, LSD did definitely reduce the degree of commerce happening with them - but has definitely not caused them to go away. You’re presuming no money laundering for instance, or that one state entity controls enough of the endpoints that it would work well enough it could actually be enforced. Not impossible (I guess), but practically not possible either.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- imtringued 6y agoDo people even use Bitcoin for criminal payments nowadays? Aren't there better options that do preserve privacy of transactions?