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IANAL: Could the government actually regulate crypto? I understand every transaction is public, but I thought one of the driving forces was that it could not be

IANAL: Could the government actually regulate crypto? I understand every transaction is public, but I thought one of the driving forces was that it could not be regulated or controlled by governments. Would the regulation be on how you buy, sell, and receive cash?

foolzcrow 5y ago
The decentralized nature makes it impossible to govern. It cannot be stopped.
morpheos137 5y ago
Governments could ban the fiat banks from interacting with crypto. That would very effectively kill crypto since there is no independent crypto monetised economy to speak of.
sjtindell 5y ago
Very few people legitimately use cryptocurrencies for their daily transactions. It's not really feasible. Getting money in, and getting money out to dollars, is where they can regulate it.
- kerng 5y ago
  Visa just surpassed $1 billion in transaction value with their crypto related cards last quarter. Things are slowly picking up steam.
  - coolspot 5y ago
    That’s basically crypto cashing out service, not a transaction with crypto.
    - kerng 5y ago
      Details for anyone interested: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/visa-says-crypto-linked-card-usage-tops-1-billion-in-first-half-of-2021.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/visa-says-crypto-linked-card...
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
matt_s 5y ago
The regulation that is most likely to happen is regulating US firms (banks, hedge funds, etc.) to disclose positions (treating crypto more like a stock than a currency) over a certain percentage much like they do with stocks and other securities. This is considered regulation but it really doesn't prevent or control activity just makes them report holdings. The other regulation might be proof of origin of funds - like if you get a gift from a relative that you use to purchase a home and a mortgage for the balance. The bank issuing the mortgage has to ensure that you aren't bringing illicit funds into the transaction and laundering it via their mortgage service. Whatever that regulation is called could apply where they have to prove US firms aren't moving illicit funds around, etc.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
BitwiseFool 5y ago
I use a different frame of reference. The US Government cannot change a decentralized system. But it can regulate you and the companies you use to interact with Crypto.
kerng 5y ago
Regulation makes sense, as it will allow it to become mainstream. Also a lot more clarification and guidelines needed around taxation with DeFi and related products - government really has to do tremendous catch up.
- BrissyCoder 5y ago
  I balk whenever someone calls DeFi 'a product'. You can't actually do anything with it. It's just a bunch of hand waving and shuffling more crypto around. The emperor has no clothes.
  - kerng 5y ago
    Comments like this make me wonder how misunderstood a lot of the crypto space is and how little many know about it. It's very normal in finance to call financial offerings, lending, loans, etc. products. Some DeFi products offer nice rewards even - like somewhere around 12% pa for more risky, but about 6% pa for low risk products. We are far from close to mainstream usage and early adopters probably will benefit the most.
    - BrissyCoder 5y ago
      What's to understand? I can get a loan on crypto but I have to put the same amount of crypto as collateral. What is the point of this? If I go to a bank I can get a loan for a car and use the car I'm purchasing itself as collateral.
      - kerng 5y ago
        That is one product. The benefit is related to growth and related taxation (but might depend on the country you are in).
        BrissyCoder 5y ago
        > The benefit is related to growth Right... so pure speculation then with no underlying utility.
vinsci 5y ago
Bitcoin is already regulated, with the algorithm that determines the difficulty of successfully calculating a transaction block, and the max number of Bitcoins. The USD, on the other hand, has no such algorithms, and so in the last year alone the USD was weakened with three trillion new dollars without any backing. Regulating the USD would be a high priority, but realistically you shouldn't expect that to happen. There's more value, from the perspective of owners of real estate and other assets in letting the USD melt down, create a crash on a scale that has never been seen before and just take whatever you may still own in exchange for some food and water. The slightly less serious analysis from a couple of years ago: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-j_CxQFziFU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-j_CxQFziFU

foolzcrow 5y ago

The decentralized nature makes it impossible to govern. It cannot be stopped.

morpheos137 5y ago

Governments could ban the fiat banks from interacting with crypto. That would very effectively kill crypto since there is no independent crypto monetised economy to speak of.

sjtindell 5y ago

Very few people legitimately use cryptocurrencies for their daily transactions. It's not really feasible. Getting money in, and getting money out to dollars, is where they can regulate it.

kerng 5y ago
Visa just surpassed $1 billion in transaction value with their crypto related cards last quarter. Things are slowly picking up steam.
- coolspot 5y ago
  That’s basically crypto cashing out service, not a transaction with crypto.
  - kerng 5y ago
    Details for anyone interested: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/visa-says-crypto-linked-card-usage-tops-1-billion-in-first-half-of-2021.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/visa-says-crypto-linked-card...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

matt_s 5y ago

The regulation that is most likely to happen is regulating US firms (banks, hedge funds, etc.) to disclose positions (treating crypto more like a stock than a currency) over a certain percentage much like they do with stocks and other securities. This is considered regulation but it really doesn't prevent or control activity just makes them report holdings. The other regulation might be proof of origin of funds - like if you get a gift from a relative that you use to purchase a home and a mortgage for the balance. The bank issuing the mortgage has to ensure that you aren't bringing illicit funds into the transaction and laundering it via their mortgage service. Whatever that regulation is called could apply where they have to prove US firms aren't moving illicit funds around, etc.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

BitwiseFool 5y ago

I use a different frame of reference. The US Government cannot change a decentralized system. But it can regulate you and the companies you use to interact with Crypto.

kerng 5y ago

Regulation makes sense, as it will allow it to become mainstream. Also a lot more clarification and guidelines needed around taxation with DeFi and related products - government really has to do tremendous catch up.

BrissyCoder 5y ago
I balk whenever someone calls DeFi 'a product'. You can't actually do anything with it. It's just a bunch of hand waving and shuffling more crypto around. The emperor has no clothes.
- kerng 5y ago
  Comments like this make me wonder how misunderstood a lot of the crypto space is and how little many know about it. It's very normal in finance to call financial offerings, lending, loans, etc. products. Some DeFi products offer nice rewards even - like somewhere around 12% pa for more risky, but about 6% pa for low risk products. We are far from close to mainstream usage and early adopters probably will benefit the most.
  - BrissyCoder 5y ago
    What's to understand? I can get a loan on crypto but I have to put the same amount of crypto as collateral. What is the point of this? If I go to a bank I can get a loan for a car and use the car I'm purchasing itself as collateral.
    - kerng 5y ago
      That is one product. The benefit is related to growth and related taxation (but might depend on the country you are in).
      - BrissyCoder 5y ago
        > The benefit is related to growth Right... so pure speculation then with no underlying utility.

vinsci 5y ago

Bitcoin is already regulated, with the algorithm that determines the difficulty of successfully calculating a transaction block, and the max number of Bitcoins. The USD, on the other hand, has no such algorithms, and so in the last year alone the USD was weakened with three trillion new dollars without any backing. Regulating the USD would be a high priority, but realistically you shouldn't expect that to happen. There's more value, from the perspective of owners of real estate and other assets in letting the USD melt down, create a crash on a scale that has never been seen before and just take whatever you may still own in exchange for some food and water. The slightly less serious analysis from a couple of years ago: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-j_CxQFziFU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-j_CxQFziFU