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>Ignoring fees for a moment, if there are Bitcoin ATMs on both ends of the remittance transaction, it's pretty easy for the participants. Why wouldn't internat

>Ignoring fees for a moment, if there are Bitcoin ATMs on both ends of the remittance transaction, it's pretty easy for the participants. Why wouldn't international BTC transfers be regulated the same as international currency transfers?

beaner 12y ago
It'd be like trying to regulate 500 million independent banks. You could make a law about it, but it'd be impossible to enforce.
mifreewil 12y ago
Decentralized P2P bitcoin transfers are not easily regulated; It would be like regulating other P2P technologies like BitTorrent or encryption software. Of course, if a centralized business is in the middle, you can regulate that, but it's not a necessary piece of the solution.
- jdong 12y ago
  Such centralized businesses will be swiftly shut down by legislation if bitcoin cannot be regulated. If shutting down the centralized businesses isn't enough, bitcoin will be outlawed. Identifying users is easy enough due to the nature of the network.
  - VMG 12y ago
    That is not the direction the government is currently going. A ban of the technology would pretty bad and unprecedented, but if push came to shove, Bitcoin traffic could be disguised as other traffic.
    - battani 12y ago
      What will the government do with Bitcoin the day a report comes out that American citizens have been killed in a terrorist operation financed by bitcoin?
      - VMG 12y ago
        What did the government do the day evil things happened over the internet using encrypted communication?
        scott_karana 12y ago
        It banned the export of cryptography.
        VMG 12y ago
        And yet a little "https" logo smiles at me in the address bar as we speak. Point being that the government can't and doesn't ban everything that can be used for evil, be it from incompetence or rationality. Bitcoin will probably be heavily monitored though, as it is very suitable for that purpose.
        alexeisadeski3 12y ago
        Give it time.
        scott_karana 12y ago
        I was referring to a mainly historic, very strict export ban that categorizes cryptographic software as munitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_U... HTTPS was crippled, since Netscape shipped only 40-bit RC4 internationally.[1] PGP's source code was printed so it would fall under First Amendment protections, since binaries weren't legal for export.[2] (See also DJB's Bernstein v. United States)[3] OpenBSD/OpenSSH is still based in Canada to avoid being subject to the laws. -------------- 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_United_States#PC_era http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_U... 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_investigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_in... and http://www.pgpi.org/pgpi/project/scanning/ http://www.pgpi.org/pgpi/project/scanning/ 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States 4 http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html
    - alexeisadeski3 12y ago
      >A ban of the technology would pretty... unprecedented It would not.
  - mifreewil 12y ago
    I'm not sure identifying users of the network is quite as easy as you may think it is. If by users you mean those sending or receiving bitcoin transactions. It'd be an interesting challenge to identify the IP address originating even a single Bitcoin transaction. How can you tell whether a node is the originator or simply a relayer of a transaction? For added privacy, run Bitcoin over Tor.
    - jdong 12y ago
      By users I mean anyone participating in the network.
- alexeisadeski3 12y ago
  >Of course, if a centralized business is in the middle, you can regulate that Who else will run the BTC ATM on each end of the transaction?
- girvo 12y ago
  You're not completely wrong. But without Bitcoin being accepted everywhere for everything, dollars will always be involved, and that's when're the regulation can and will live.

beaner 12y ago

It'd be like trying to regulate 500 million independent banks. You could make a law about it, but it'd be impossible to enforce.

mifreewil 12y ago

Decentralized P2P bitcoin transfers are not easily regulated; It would be like regulating other P2P technologies like BitTorrent or encryption software. Of course, if a centralized business is in the middle, you can regulate that, but it's not a necessary piece of the solution.

jdong 12y ago
Such centralized businesses will be swiftly shut down by legislation if bitcoin cannot be regulated. If shutting down the centralized businesses isn't enough, bitcoin will be outlawed. Identifying users is easy enough due to the nature of the network.
- VMG 12y ago
  That is not the direction the government is currently going. A ban of the technology would pretty bad and unprecedented, but if push came to shove, Bitcoin traffic could be disguised as other traffic.
  - battani 12y ago
    What will the government do with Bitcoin the day a report comes out that American citizens have been killed in a terrorist operation financed by bitcoin?
    - VMG 12y ago
      What did the government do the day evil things happened over the internet using encrypted communication?
      - scott_karana 12y ago
        It banned the export of cryptography.
        VMG 12y ago
        And yet a little "https" logo smiles at me in the address bar as we speak. Point being that the government can't and doesn't ban everything that can be used for evil, be it from incompetence or rationality. Bitcoin will probably be heavily monitored though, as it is very suitable for that purpose.
        alexeisadeski3 12y ago
        Give it time.
        scott_karana 12y ago
        I was referring to a mainly historic, very strict export ban that categorizes cryptographic software as munitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_U... HTTPS was crippled, since Netscape shipped only 40-bit RC4 internationally.[1] PGP's source code was printed so it would fall under First Amendment protections, since binaries weren't legal for export.[2] (See also DJB's Bernstein v. United States)[3] OpenBSD/OpenSSH is still based in Canada to avoid being subject to the laws. -------------- 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_United_States#PC_era http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_in_the_U... 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_investigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_in... and http://www.pgpi.org/pgpi/project/scanning/ http://www.pgpi.org/pgpi/project/scanning/ 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States 4 http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html
  - alexeisadeski3 12y ago
    >A ban of the technology would pretty... unprecedented It would not.
- mifreewil 12y ago
  I'm not sure identifying users of the network is quite as easy as you may think it is. If by users you mean those sending or receiving bitcoin transactions. It'd be an interesting challenge to identify the IP address originating even a single Bitcoin transaction. How can you tell whether a node is the originator or simply a relayer of a transaction? For added privacy, run Bitcoin over Tor.
  - jdong 12y ago
    By users I mean anyone participating in the network.
alexeisadeski3 12y ago
>Of course, if a centralized business is in the middle, you can regulate that Who else will run the BTC ATM on each end of the transaction?
girvo 12y ago
You're not completely wrong. But without Bitcoin being accepted everywhere for everything, dollars will always be involved, and that's when're the regulation can and will live.