Comment by jariel | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jariel | Hacker News Reader

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If it turned out that BTC was a primary vector of money laundering and means to pay for illegal stuff, the US could declare it illegal which would crash it instantly. EU and China probably and everyone else probably would as well if that were the case, and then it would be wiped out.

Specific kinds of regulations might kill it as well - though most regulations probably validate it, there could be certain things that make it impossible to survive. Maybe some kind of regulation regarding asset size + value certification, or something about the security of the BTC numbers. Or possibly something about disclosure - since BTC allows you to keep 10 Billion in your drawer at home ... it creates a problem similar to offshore financing.

Musk was maybe smart to buy BTC because he's the kind of guy who can give it hype and 'cred' ... but either 1) he doesn't realize what it actually is and is unknowingly pushing Ponzi or 2) he knows what he's doing and happy to take money from dupes and rubes. I suggest it's the former, as everything Musk says leads me to believe he has never opened a finance text. The paradoxes of great leader: their giant blind spots outside the realms of their interest. Gates, Musk, Jobs, Bezos, Soros ... they can be big visionary in some areas and insufferable fools in others.

The worst thing the US government would do is regulate tainted Bitcoin by keeping a database of all Bitcoin that were connected to a specific crime. If your Bitcoins randomly become worthless because the US government prevents trading of tainted Bitcoin it could easily cause a long term price decline as more and more crimes are being uncovered and more Bitcoin become tainted. A global agreement with the EU and China could strengthen the potency of this database.

The Nigerian central bank banned crypto and now bitcoin is twice the price. All the US banning crypto will do is make the United States fall even further behind in the space. Also banning it cause of crime normal money is used for crime why isn’t that banned. If they are doing it for a power thing then it’s a disgusting display of rights being denied.

The Nigerian Central Bank is irrelevant.

"All the US banning crypto will do is make the United States fall even further behind in the space"

The US will fall further behind in fraud, ponzi schemes, tax avoidance, and wasted electricity?

And so ...

Cryptos have demonstrated zero value to society as of yet, and there are some drawbacks, least of which is wasted electricity.

If they ever become useful as a medium of exchange, all the same regulatory rules have to apply, ergo, the frictionless hope is gone, in other words, they are pointless, and serve no purpose other than as a distraction.

Yeah you are right. You shouldn’t get any. Complete scam. I’ve sold all mine.

Regarding your last paragraph, he co founded paypal so this is very much in the realm of his interests.

You'd think that, wouldn't you, but surprisingly doing payment processing doesn't necessarily involve any fundamental understanding of the nature of currency, how it's backed, Fed operations, how they related to the Treasury.

Elon makes a lot of questionable statements about BTC and currency.

A few weeks ago:

"Having some bitcoin, which is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash, is adventurous enough for an S&P 500 company ... When fiat currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere. Bitcoin is almost as bs as fiat money. The key word is 'almost.'"

His concerns about the funny money nature of the Fed etc. are reasonable - no doubt, but at the same time, almost everything he says about BTC undermines his credibility on those things.

BTC is not a currency or a 'store of value' just because a bunch of people say it is. It's just list of numbers people are trading because they want to. The Fed has problems, but BTC is a populist fiction.

Is a "populist fiction" not precisely what any currency, that is traded in place of tangible things, is?

Unless you think your government, your constitution, you financial system are a 'populist fiction' then no.

USD is legal tender, a contract, backed by assets (US TBills), with a ton of laws, rules and regulations.

BTC is digital Monopoly Money.

> If it turned out that BTC was a primary vector of money laundering and means to pay for illegal stuff, the US could declare it illegal

Comedy option: maybe they also need it to pay for illegal stuff v(._. )v

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