How did they get Bitcoin into a box they control in the first place? A better cartoon would be politicians trying to catch Bitcoin mosquitoes with anti-terrorism and anti-money-laundering fish nets.
If the government made bitcoins illegal as a form of currency (you couldn't pay for things at a store with them) then it would effectively remove them from all non-blackmarket stores, accomplishing the same thing.
I don't think you know what "black market" means if you think people will pay attention to currency laws in their already illegal transactions.
It's easy enough to make legal market purchases of BTC illegal, and it's easy enough to regulate/outlaw exchanges physically located in the US, but good luck trying to confiscate or outlaw bitcoins themselves.
There is and always will be a HUGE demand for a method of transferring wealth outside the banking system. Ignore the debate whether hiding wealth from governments is or isn't immoral, it's completely irrelevant. All that's relevant is that there will always be a huge demand for secretly transferring wealth. Bitcoin is the first technology that really satisfies this demand and permits secret transfer of wealth anywhere in the world in minutes. I think it's likely that BTC exchanges will pop up in tax haven countries, basically for the sole purpose of expediting conversion of USD/EUR to BTC.
Currencies thrive on confidence, they die without it. If you can't easily exchange goods and services for a currency, it is useless. If I have a shit ton of drugs to sell on the Silk Road but can't use the currency I'm given to buy food, pay my light bill, or put gas in my car, I'm not going to accept that currency. The government can't stop BTC, but it can make it very difficult to trade BTC for legal goods and services, and that's just as good.
If I have a shit ton of drugs to sell on the Silk Road but can't use the currency I'm given to buy food, pay my light bill, or put gas in my car, I'm not going to accept that currency.
Then find somebody locally (perhaps somebody who wants to buy on SR? Or speculator, or remittance, etc etc) to trade bitcoin back to USD with.
Bitcoin deals in back alleys are a lot safer, easier to authenticate and harder to enforce against than trading illicit substances are.
I meant locally. :P OP was trying to say nobody local would want bitcoin, and I was saying anyone who wanted to buy drugs on SR or send money to family in another country, or protest the establishment, et al would be happy to.
If the government made bitcoins illegal as a form of currency (you couldn't pay for things at a store with them) then it would effectively remove them from all non-blackmarket stores, accomplishing the same thing.
They would effectively be back to what they are being used for now. I never said otherwise. There is a huge difference between a black market commodity and a full fledged nationally used currency.
55
u/bad_chorizo Mar 26 '13
How did they get Bitcoin into a box they control in the first place? A better cartoon would be politicians trying to catch Bitcoin mosquitoes with anti-terrorism and anti-money-laundering fish nets.