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Comment by originalgeek | Hacker News Reader

> Because Bitcoin is an open-source project, and because the database exists only in the distributed peer-to-peer network created by its users, there is no Bitcoin company to raid, subpoena or shut down.

Which will leave only Bitcoin users to raid, subpoena and shut down.

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And that worked so well for copyright piracy! I'm glad we live in a world without pirated music and movies!

If the government can confiscate gold, what would prevent them from passing the law saying bitcoin ownership is illegal?

Yeah goodluck with that, proving someone has a particular private key. Of course this is all possible but would require the banning of cryptography, and that would take a disciplined dictatorship to pull that off.

The cryptography cat is out of the bag, you can't just ban it(sure you can try, but like I said, good luck enforcing it).

I hope, that US can't return in time of "executive order 6102"

Hauling people away in handcuffs is a much more potent deterrent than randomly shaking people down for a few grand.

It depends on critical mass. If only 2 people are doing it the risk of being the one in handcuffs is a lot larger than when you are 1 of 100 million people doing it.

I'd like to see them raid every single Bitcoin user worldwide, which is how I think it would have to happen in order to shut it down.

Actually, they would probably only need to raid a substantial amount (maybe half?) in order to control the block chain.

They don't need to shut down the network to win, just like you don't need to destroy an adversary's weapons to win a battle. You can win by destroying his will to fight. In this case, scare bitcoin users into abandoning the currency. Some high-profile prison terms would ensure that.

This has worked really well in the war on drugs, I.e. three strikes law. It's pretty impractical and extremely expensive to fill up your prisons with bitcoin holders.

But drugs get you high. Bitcoins aren't an actual commodity.

Nope. Remember, bitcoin, for the foreseeable future, is only going to be valid for online transactions. You'll still need to go through a gateway of some kind (Paypal, bank, etc.) to convert a bitcoin into dollars, euros, yen, or whatever you buy food and pay rent with.

Those gateways represent choke points that can and will be shut down, if our experience with other online currencies is any guide.

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