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Generally people participating in a Ponzi scheme do not view it as such. The tactics deployed by truly oppressive regimes make anything easy to confiscate inclu

by qaq 5y ago

Generally people participating in a Ponzi scheme do not view it as such. The tactics deployed by truly oppressive regimes make anything easy to confiscate including bitcoin.

glenvdb 5y ago
Yes, the wrench technique will always ultimately win. https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/ But they have to know someone holds it in the first place. You can walk around with a seed phrase in your head and no one would know.
- qaq 5y ago
  well you had to have something of value that you had to trade for bitcoin. Also in oppressive regimes the act of attempting to leave the country already makes you a suspect.
  - stale2002 5y ago
    > the act of attempting to leave the country They aren't going to immediately execute everyone who is crossing the border. Even in authoritarian regimes, some people may be able to leave, and borders are not completely shutdown. And in that situation, for those people, it is useful to be able to carry money, in a way where they do not know that you have it.
    - bb88 5y ago
      I mean sure, some people make it out of North Korea. A lot are publicly executed to be made an example of too. I think you fail to understand the power of a true authoritarian government, particularly if they can monitor and limit your access to the outside world. * Use a VPN, you're guilty of Treason. * Use a currency other than the North Korean won, you're guilty of treason. * Use an electronic device other than state sponsored devices, you're guilty of treason. All executions will be recorded for posterity and broadcast to the people as a reminder of the power of the state.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
- abecedarius 5y ago
  Also don't forget multisig or Shamir secret sharing.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
anonporridge 5y ago
True, sufficiently oppressive regimes can confiscate bitcoin in a lot of situations. However, as soon as they start doing that to the first few people, what's going to stop everyone else from instantly sending their bitcoin to family and friends across the border for safe keeping?
- qaq 5y ago
  So you or you child is being tortured but you are "happy" that your bitcoins are safe ? This whole thing omits the question of how a person under oppressive regime came into possession of bitcoin in the first place
  - anonporridge 5y ago
    It's more a matter of game theory. With wealth like gold, land, oil, or any other physical resources, an oppressive regime can just kill all dissenters and take control of everything. The payoff to violence is huge. But with a digital wealth like bitcoin, which can flee the country at the speed of light, even if the owners can't go with it, the payoff to violence evaporates. The oppressive regime that spends a lot of time and energy torturing and killing people will have no spoils to show for it.
    - XorNot 5y ago
      Except who is buying it and for what? The only wealth people could offer for Bitcoin is wealth in a country with an oppressive regime. Who internationally can even take possession of that to cover their expenses? The only plausible option would be to actually just setup a mining rig and mine the Bitcoin, since presumably for a while their might be an electricity grid their and the BTC network ascribes value to that activity...except you can't mine on commodity hardware to anymore either.

by qaq 5y ago

Generally people participating in a Ponzi scheme do not view it as such. The tactics deployed by truly oppressive regimes make anything easy to confiscate including bitcoin.

glenvdb 5y ago

Yes, the wrench technique will always ultimately win. https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/ But they have to know someone holds it in the first place. You can walk around with a seed phrase in your head and no one would know.

qaq 5y ago
well you had to have something of value that you had to trade for bitcoin. Also in oppressive regimes the act of attempting to leave the country already makes you a suspect.
- stale2002 5y ago
  > the act of attempting to leave the country They aren't going to immediately execute everyone who is crossing the border. Even in authoritarian regimes, some people may be able to leave, and borders are not completely shutdown. And in that situation, for those people, it is useful to be able to carry money, in a way where they do not know that you have it.
  - bb88 5y ago
    I mean sure, some people make it out of North Korea. A lot are publicly executed to be made an example of too. I think you fail to understand the power of a true authoritarian government, particularly if they can monitor and limit your access to the outside world. * Use a VPN, you're guilty of Treason. * Use a currency other than the North Korean won, you're guilty of treason. * Use an electronic device other than state sponsored devices, you're guilty of treason. All executions will be recorded for posterity and broadcast to the people as a reminder of the power of the state.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
abecedarius 5y ago
Also don't forget multisig or Shamir secret sharing.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

anonporridge 5y ago

True, sufficiently oppressive regimes can confiscate bitcoin in a lot of situations. However, as soon as they start doing that to the first few people, what's going to stop everyone else from instantly sending their bitcoin to family and friends across the border for safe keeping?

qaq 5y ago
So you or you child is being tortured but you are "happy" that your bitcoins are safe ? This whole thing omits the question of how a person under oppressive regime came into possession of bitcoin in the first place
- anonporridge 5y ago
  It's more a matter of game theory. With wealth like gold, land, oil, or any other physical resources, an oppressive regime can just kill all dissenters and take control of everything. The payoff to violence is huge. But with a digital wealth like bitcoin, which can flee the country at the speed of light, even if the owners can't go with it, the payoff to violence evaporates. The oppressive regime that spends a lot of time and energy torturing and killing people will have no spoils to show for it.
  - XorNot 5y ago
    Except who is buying it and for what? The only wealth people could offer for Bitcoin is wealth in a country with an oppressive regime. Who internationally can even take possession of that to cover their expenses? The only plausible option would be to actually just setup a mining rig and mine the Bitcoin, since presumably for a while their might be an electricity grid their and the BTC network ascribes value to that activity...except you can't mine on commodity hardware to anymore either.