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I mean, does Bitcoin give people the sort of high that they'd risk going to prison for? I'm not sure nearly-random numbers has the staying power compared to add

I mean, does Bitcoin give people the sort of high that they'd risk going to prison for? I'm not sure nearly-random numbers has the staying power compared to addictive substances.

WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
Yeah, opening it up and seeing 30%+ gains in a day does give me a sort of high.
- chitowneats 5y ago
  You won't be seeing 30%+ gains when they're throwing people in prison for it. Most drug users are never prosecuted. But the threat of prosecution does very little to affect the quality of their purchase, relative to what it would do to BTC market as a whole.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
    Yeah, illegal things definitely don't end being sold above market price.
    - handrous 5y ago
      I think this dynamic will play out very differently with something the value of which is mostly determined by current and future-expected transaction velocity & volume (to the extent that it's not sheer speculation). Now, the cost for services involving Bitcoin, like converting it into dollars, would probably shoot way up. Outlawing Bitcoin (or cryptocurrency generally) would cause a huge demand reduction. Some coins might adjust supply to compensate, but total crypto "market cap" would surely plummet.
    - chitowneats 5y ago
      If you can't exchange BTC for dollars other than in person, and if you can't use it to purchase goods online other than via TOR, that is not going to increase the price. It's going to crash it.
  - jessaustin 5y ago
    ...when they're throwing people in prison for it. I thought I smelled authoritarianism! Here we see the ultimate purpose of this entire desultory exercise. Having problems online? No backups? Don't fix your pathetic shit; just be the excuse for the USA military-enforcement-imprisonment-industrial complex to oppress everyone on earth. Good grief.
    - chitowneats 5y ago
      https://drewdevault.com/2021/04/26/Cryptocurrency-is-a-disaster.html https://drewdevault.com/2021/04/26/Cryptocurrency-is-a-disas... Nations make laws against bad things. People who violate those laws go to jail. A ban on cryptocurrency (or rather, exchanging it for dollars) will be a hell of a lot easier than banning popular intoxicants. We're done putting up with this particularly pernicious iteration of tulip mania. Time to pull the plug before it does any more damage.
      - jessaustin 5y ago
        I am shocked that I can't find the term "backup" at that authoritative link
  - bouncycastle 5y ago
    Do you know how absurd that would be? Crypto like Bitcoin are just a database in essence. Throwing someone in prison for running a database on their computer would probably spell the end of general purpose computers. You will not be allowed to run databases anymore unless they are approved.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > Do you know how absurd that would be? Bitcoin is just a database in essence It’s really bot unusual for the law to treat things differently based on the purpose for which they are used when they are “just a database, in essence”.
      - bouncycastle 5y ago
        I know, in theory you can have a law for everything. For example, in the Soviet Union basic electronics such as radios were restricted and you were not allowed to tune your sets to western stations.
        chitowneats 5y ago
        You can also have a total free for all. Murder, kidnapping, etc, all legal. See? I can do it too.
        bouncycastle 5y ago
        I don't think a database or a computer murdered or kidnapped anyone. I mean, a computer which runs the B-tree algorithm and talks with the rest of the internet according to a bunch of loops/if/then/else statements is not exactly an assault rifle. But yes, everything can be banned eventually. We'll just go back to living in the cave.
      - chitowneats 5y ago
        I assume you'd have no issue taking down a database full of child pornography? You know there are some who argue that CP is just "bits on disk". What if society determines that cryptocurrency also has negative externalities? You're free to disagree but I just stuck my finger in the air and it's pretty clear which way the wind is blowing.
- okareaman 5y ago
  Opening it up and seeing 30%+ losses in a day must be quite a come down
  - WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
    You're not wrong.
rsj_hn 5y ago
Bitcoin is just math. The US isn't going to be able make holding bitcoin illegal, and I very much doubt it will ever be able to make the buying and selling of it illegal -- there are even free speech issues here. But what it can do is tax the hell out of it, regulate the exchanges as investment platforms, but they will have a hard time trying to make it illegal to pay someone to sign a cryptographic hash.
- hocuspocus 5y ago
  The US very much decides who, where, and what can be bought or sold in USD. Worldwide.
  - rawtxapp 5y ago
    So if I give 10$ cash to buy something, the US government is right above my right shoulder approving that transaction? You realize that doesn't make any sense right.
    - chitowneats 5y ago
      This is the only scenario in which you will be able to exchange BTC for $. Literally in person. If you don't see how this mean the price will crash, I don't know what to tell you.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    That is a blanket statement that doesn't bear up to scrutiny as you are confusing things like international transactions with national transactions, regulations by states versus by the federal government, and completely ignoring all the constitutional restrictions we have. It's like someone talking about freedom of contract and you counter with trade sanctions against North Korea. How does one respond to such high level dismissals so removed from the specific legal issues at play here?

I mean, does Bitcoin give people the sort of high that they'd risk going to prison for? I'm not sure nearly-random numbers has the staying power compared to addictive substances.

WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago

Yeah, opening it up and seeing 30%+ gains in a day does give me a sort of high.

chitowneats 5y ago
You won't be seeing 30%+ gains when they're throwing people in prison for it. Most drug users are never prosecuted. But the threat of prosecution does very little to affect the quality of their purchase, relative to what it would do to BTC market as a whole.
- WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
  Yeah, illegal things definitely don't end being sold above market price.
  - handrous 5y ago
    I think this dynamic will play out very differently with something the value of which is mostly determined by current and future-expected transaction velocity & volume (to the extent that it's not sheer speculation). Now, the cost for services involving Bitcoin, like converting it into dollars, would probably shoot way up. Outlawing Bitcoin (or cryptocurrency generally) would cause a huge demand reduction. Some coins might adjust supply to compensate, but total crypto "market cap" would surely plummet.
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    If you can't exchange BTC for dollars other than in person, and if you can't use it to purchase goods online other than via TOR, that is not going to increase the price. It's going to crash it.
- jessaustin 5y ago
  ...when they're throwing people in prison for it. I thought I smelled authoritarianism! Here we see the ultimate purpose of this entire desultory exercise. Having problems online? No backups? Don't fix your pathetic shit; just be the excuse for the USA military-enforcement-imprisonment-industrial complex to oppress everyone on earth. Good grief.
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    https://drewdevault.com/2021/04/26/Cryptocurrency-is-a-disaster.html https://drewdevault.com/2021/04/26/Cryptocurrency-is-a-disas... Nations make laws against bad things. People who violate those laws go to jail. A ban on cryptocurrency (or rather, exchanging it for dollars) will be a hell of a lot easier than banning popular intoxicants. We're done putting up with this particularly pernicious iteration of tulip mania. Time to pull the plug before it does any more damage.
    - jessaustin 5y ago
      I am shocked that I can't find the term "backup" at that authoritative link
- bouncycastle 5y ago
  Do you know how absurd that would be? Crypto like Bitcoin are just a database in essence. Throwing someone in prison for running a database on their computer would probably spell the end of general purpose computers. You will not be allowed to run databases anymore unless they are approved.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Do you know how absurd that would be? Bitcoin is just a database in essence It’s really bot unusual for the law to treat things differently based on the purpose for which they are used when they are “just a database, in essence”.
    - bouncycastle 5y ago
      I know, in theory you can have a law for everything. For example, in the Soviet Union basic electronics such as radios were restricted and you were not allowed to tune your sets to western stations.
      - chitowneats 5y ago
        You can also have a total free for all. Murder, kidnapping, etc, all legal. See? I can do it too.
        bouncycastle 5y ago
        I don't think a database or a computer murdered or kidnapped anyone. I mean, a computer which runs the B-tree algorithm and talks with the rest of the internet according to a bunch of loops/if/then/else statements is not exactly an assault rifle. But yes, everything can be banned eventually. We'll just go back to living in the cave.
    - chitowneats 5y ago
      I assume you'd have no issue taking down a database full of child pornography? You know there are some who argue that CP is just "bits on disk". What if society determines that cryptocurrency also has negative externalities? You're free to disagree but I just stuck my finger in the air and it's pretty clear which way the wind is blowing.
okareaman 5y ago
Opening it up and seeing 30%+ losses in a day must be quite a come down
- WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
  You're not wrong.

rsj_hn 5y ago

Bitcoin is just math. The US isn't going to be able make holding bitcoin illegal, and I very much doubt it will ever be able to make the buying and selling of it illegal -- there are even free speech issues here. But what it can do is tax the hell out of it, regulate the exchanges as investment platforms, but they will have a hard time trying to make it illegal to pay someone to sign a cryptographic hash.

hocuspocus 5y ago
The US very much decides who, where, and what can be bought or sold in USD. Worldwide.
- rawtxapp 5y ago
  So if I give 10$ cash to buy something, the US government is right above my right shoulder approving that transaction? You realize that doesn't make any sense right.
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    This is the only scenario in which you will be able to exchange BTC for $. Literally in person. If you don't see how this mean the price will crash, I don't know what to tell you.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  That is a blanket statement that doesn't bear up to scrutiny as you are confusing things like international transactions with national transactions, regulations by states versus by the federal government, and completely ignoring all the constitutional restrictions we have. It's like someone talking about freedom of contract and you counter with trade sanctions against North Korea. How does one respond to such high level dismissals so removed from the specific legal issues at play here?