Hacker News Reader

Comment by aje403 | Hacker News Reader

I'm trying to figure out just a single comment on this thread to point out the idiocy of but so far I'm unable to pick any one in particular. Hopefully there will be some rational comments here at some point.

I can't see any justifiable reason for needing to hide crypto assets from the government in a developed country, other than wanting to hide them. If you need to hide your assets, please move to a 3rd world country where the government doesn't spend large amounts of money to stop your neighbor from running into your house with a gun and stealing your possessions

View on HN

Ah, the classic "Who needs privacy if you've got nothing to hide". I'm just glad most people don't think that way.

No, the classic, a government is justified in trying to prevent money laundering and I don't care about my neighbor's right to circumvent capital gains taxes under a false facade of a libertarian shield

Do you apply the same logic to cash? Should that be phased out?

The biggest appeals of phasing out cash are the possibility of negative interest rates along with the erosion of privacy. But those are appealing to governments not citizens.

Cash has been relatively phasing out of developed countries for the past half century - it might not be here in a 200 years from organic technological advancement and usage. Most people, when paying with their smartphones, do not stop themselves and ask "gee, now that I don't use cash anymore am I contributing to a hypothetical eventuality of a cashless society that encourages an Orwellian state? What should I have for supper tonight?" Deliberately removing legal tender from circulation is a large endeavor as well; there no simple "this is beneficial for us, let's get rid of it". I'm also trying to picture the US intentionally renouncing its hegemony and announcing to the world that the physical US dollar is no longer in circulation and finding that slightly comical.

Providing any analogy from cash to crypto in ANY regard is simply never going to be bijective, so I would never apply the same logic. The entire point is that if I'm trying to hide "value" or "accrued value" from the government, crypto is and has been a considerably better option over other stores, including cash.

What is the reason for needing to hide anything from the government?

In some countries, simply belonging to the political party not in power is reason enough.

Indeed, my question was rhetoricial in case that wasn't clear.

It was clear. I thought it would be interesting to answer it so we could demarcate the freedom to organize politically and the freedom to hide potentially illegal assets and business operations.

Or just go to Switzerland where the government's job is to serve the people, not the otherway around

Reply on news.ycombinator.com