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Crypto is just messages in a permissionless p2p network. To not “allow” it to exist is the legislature banning what is presently considered protected expressio

by sneak 1y ago

Crypto is just messages in a permissionless p2p network. To not “allow” it to exist is the legislature banning what is presently considered protected expression/free speech. Crypto is speech, not property. I really don’t think you’d like where that can of worms leads. It doesn’t even matter if you like cryptocurrencies or not; we all have a vested interest in being able to create p2p networks amongst the whole internet and send any kind of messages/frames within them that we wish.

ben_w 1y ago
> Crypto is speech, not property. Crypto*graphy* is speech. To assert that crypto*currency* is not property is quite bizarre.
- sneak 1y ago
  They’re called virtual currencies for a reason; they don’t actually exist. It’s just a set of consensus rules about who can make which transfers. The transfers themselves are just packets. To use bitcoin is to send packets containing signatures, nothing more. Practically speaking, they can’t be anything but speech.
  - ben_w 1y ago
    What you call it doesn't matter. If you can use it like a currency, it's property. Even if you can't use it like a currency but it's tradable at all, it's property.
pavlov 1y ago
Similarly savings accounts and loans are just messages that describe agreements between private parties. So how can we have bank regulation, when everything that a bank does is just speech? The answer is that the law is interested in the content of communications, and whether the messages are cryptographically peer-to-peer this-or-that is irrelevant. If your crypto messaging is about selling drugs or unregistered securities, it's not much of an excuse that you were doing it peer-to-peer.
- kjksf 1y ago
  The difference is that bank has a CEO that can take your money or loose it by doing risky things with your money. Bitcoin network doesn't have a CEO. It is what it is and will always be that. Bitcoin network will not decide, at some point, to lend out your bitcoin at 100x leverage. There will never be a run on Bitcoin network because it always has the same amount of Bitcoin. Bitcoin network is already "regulated" by the code. Bitcoin regulations are merely governments trying to regain control they had with banks (they can get all the info they want about you, they can order banks to shutdown your account, like Canadian government did).

by sneak 1y ago

ben_w 1y ago

> Crypto is speech, not property. Crypto*graphy* is speech. To assert that crypto*currency* is not property is quite bizarre.

sneak 1y ago
They’re called virtual currencies for a reason; they don’t actually exist. It’s just a set of consensus rules about who can make which transfers. The transfers themselves are just packets. To use bitcoin is to send packets containing signatures, nothing more. Practically speaking, they can’t be anything but speech.
- ben_w 1y ago
  What you call it doesn't matter. If you can use it like a currency, it's property. Even if you can't use it like a currency but it's tradable at all, it's property.

pavlov 1y ago

Similarly savings accounts and loans are just messages that describe agreements between private parties. So how can we have bank regulation, when everything that a bank does is just speech? The answer is that the law is interested in the content of communications, and whether the messages are cryptographically peer-to-peer this-or-that is irrelevant. If your crypto messaging is about selling drugs or unregistered securities, it's not much of an excuse that you were doing it peer-to-peer.

kjksf 1y ago
The difference is that bank has a CEO that can take your money or loose it by doing risky things with your money. Bitcoin network doesn't have a CEO. It is what it is and will always be that. Bitcoin network will not decide, at some point, to lend out your bitcoin at 100x leverage. There will never be a run on Bitcoin network because it always has the same amount of Bitcoin. Bitcoin network is already "regulated" by the code. Bitcoin regulations are merely governments trying to regain control they had with banks (they can get all the info they want about you, they can order banks to shutdown your account, like Canadian government did).