5 ms·

you could only drive it into the underground where it sprouted from in the first place, it would inevitably return. the only way to stop this form of crypto is

by gfody 5y ago

you could only drive it into the underground where it sprouted from in the first place, it would inevitably return. the only way to stop this form of crypto is to invent a better one

malermeister 5y ago
If punishments for being discovered were severe enough, I think we could pretty much kill it off. Would you risk life in prison?
- kragen 5y ago
  Often the difference between having money and having no money is life or death. So it's common for people to risk life in prison, or even death, as an alternative to having all their possessions confiscated; and that's what Bitcoin is in many cases.
- gfody 5y ago
  that's an escalation - I would risk my life to fight against a state that threatens life in prison to control something like crypto
  - malermeister 5y ago
    I feel like people sometimes say things like that, but it always ends up sounding naive. The state has tanks and drones that rain death and destruction from the sky. What could the crypto people possibly do to counter that?
    - ric2b 5y ago
      Are you seriously saying that you would be ok with using the army to violently murder civilians because they use some computers that you think use too much energy and don't provide enough value?
    - Sargos 5y ago
      How did all those tanks and drones work out for us in Afghanistan? Or Iraq? Or all of the other places where insurgents tend to win out over slow and bureaucratic militaries.
      - malermeister 5y ago
        That was a foreign occupation, very different. The US didn't have popular support in either of those and was seen as the invader. It would be very different if some crypto fanatics started an insurgency over wanting to have their computer money. I definitely would side with the state over them and I have a feeling most folks would.
        gfody 5y ago
        crypto fanatics are still just civilians operating a network, the state can and should regulate by setting policy (eg by making it not so lucrative to waste electricity mining crypto that it threatens the environment)
        yellowapple 5y ago
        > That was a foreign occupation, very different. Do you think a domestic occupation would somehow go better? > I definitely would side with the state over them and I have a feeling most folks would. In order for a cryptocurrency ban to actually have any real effect on the actual crypto fanatics (i.e. the ones who would be willing to take up arms to defend cryptocurrency), the US would have to pull some very draconian online censorship measures that would absolutely peeve the average American. Short of that, it would be comparable to the US' existing "ban" (via the DMCA) of digital piracy: pretty much ineffective, without pirates needing to take up arms as outright insurgents to defend it.
- int_19h 5y ago
  It sounds like you want to take the War on Drugs textbook, and apply it to crypto. I expect it'll work about as well, and have similar collateral damage.
acdha 5y ago
It was never a product of the underground — from the initial launch of Bitcoin it was a public project with a strong political vision. Some people tried to use it for underground activities but the claim was that those could be done anonymously on the public network, which is trivially blocked.

by gfody 5y ago

you could only drive it into the underground where it sprouted from in the first place, it would inevitably return. the only way to stop this form of crypto is to invent a better one

malermeister 5y ago

If punishments for being discovered were severe enough, I think we could pretty much kill it off. Would you risk life in prison?

kragen 5y ago
Often the difference between having money and having no money is life or death. So it's common for people to risk life in prison, or even death, as an alternative to having all their possessions confiscated; and that's what Bitcoin is in many cases.
gfody 5y ago
that's an escalation - I would risk my life to fight against a state that threatens life in prison to control something like crypto
- malermeister 5y ago
  I feel like people sometimes say things like that, but it always ends up sounding naive. The state has tanks and drones that rain death and destruction from the sky. What could the crypto people possibly do to counter that?
  - ric2b 5y ago
    Are you seriously saying that you would be ok with using the army to violently murder civilians because they use some computers that you think use too much energy and don't provide enough value?
  - Sargos 5y ago
    How did all those tanks and drones work out for us in Afghanistan? Or Iraq? Or all of the other places where insurgents tend to win out over slow and bureaucratic militaries.
    - malermeister 5y ago
      That was a foreign occupation, very different. The US didn't have popular support in either of those and was seen as the invader. It would be very different if some crypto fanatics started an insurgency over wanting to have their computer money. I definitely would side with the state over them and I have a feeling most folks would.
      - gfody 5y ago
        crypto fanatics are still just civilians operating a network, the state can and should regulate by setting policy (eg by making it not so lucrative to waste electricity mining crypto that it threatens the environment)
      - yellowapple 5y ago
        > That was a foreign occupation, very different. Do you think a domestic occupation would somehow go better? > I definitely would side with the state over them and I have a feeling most folks would. In order for a cryptocurrency ban to actually have any real effect on the actual crypto fanatics (i.e. the ones who would be willing to take up arms to defend cryptocurrency), the US would have to pull some very draconian online censorship measures that would absolutely peeve the average American. Short of that, it would be comparable to the US' existing "ban" (via the DMCA) of digital piracy: pretty much ineffective, without pirates needing to take up arms as outright insurgents to defend it.
int_19h 5y ago
It sounds like you want to take the War on Drugs textbook, and apply it to crypto. I expect it'll work about as well, and have similar collateral damage.

acdha 5y ago

It was never a product of the underground — from the initial launch of Bitcoin it was a public project with a strong political vision. Some people tried to use it for underground activities but the claim was that those could be done anonymously on the public network, which is trivially blocked.