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Could The U.S. Gov't destroy Bitcoin by owning it all?
You know the government is not fond of bitcoin, especially w/ a lot of illegal activity using it.
My questions is what would happen to the crypto-currency if the U.S. went on a massive buying campaign to buy/mine all bitcoins they could get their hand on and other cryptocurrencies? -- Essentially cornering the market? They have the resources to do so, and sure more bitcoin would always hit the market, but would this curtail it's popularity?
- Octplane 13y agoWouldn't declaring this money illegal much more faster, cheaper and efficient to destroy it (at least on US ground) ?
- dragonwriter 13y agoNo. Declaring a commodity to be illegal is not a fast, cheap, or efficient way to destroy it. See, e.g., Prohibition. Or Prohibition 2.0: The War on Drugs.
- gremlinsinc 13y agoExactly - but drugs can be made, and manufactured.. Bitcoins cannot, there is a finite limit. Of course people may eventually move-on to other crypto-currencies, but the u.s. could buy up all those super cheap as they come available as well.
- forktheif 13y agoWouldn't that just cause bitcoin to become more expensive, until it's so expensive the US can't afford to buy up the last few bitcoins?
- gremlinsinc 13y agoBy then the damage would be done, in fact I think they'd only need to corner the market w/ 60% or so to be able to wreak havoc on the stability of the system. Would be funny if this thread on HN led to the downfall of BTC by giving the gov't the very idea on how to destroy it.