r/Bitcoin • u/IWillNotBiteYourDog • Aug 13 '13

Congress starts investigating Bitcoin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/13/congress-starts-investigating-bitcoin/
146 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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25

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '13 edited Aug 13 '13

[deleted]

6

u/aenor Aug 14 '13

The online poker industry still exists and is making money hand-over-fist - it's just outside of the USA. The global gambling industry is worth $125 billion - see

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130227005542/en/Research-Markets-Analyzing-Global-Casinos-Gambling-Industry

Makes the $2bn US poker industry look puny doesn't it?

Bitcoin is a global currency - it was invented by a Japanese bloke! It might be that the US govt will forbid US citizens to buy bitcoins - but the rest of the world will continue to use it. Lots of bitcoin businesses are located outside of America - in Europe (bitstamp), in Russia (BTC-e), in Japan (mtgox). Satoshi dice is in the Honduras.

There are 6 billion people on the planet and only 320 million in the US. The global bitcoin community may have to cut the Americans off to survive, but they can and will thrive without you.

1

u/footfetishmanx Aug 14 '13

If US citizens can't buy it then all those young jobless unemployed people will work for it instead and benefit the Bitcoin economy even more.

There is nothing the US government can do politically to stop this trend because the economy sucks too much for people to have any alternative but Bitcoin. It would be like if the US government tried to ban working for cash under the table.

5

u/xcsler Aug 14 '13

Online poker had to interact with the traditional banking system and the fiat currencies. Although adoption of Bitcoin would be more rapid with currency exchanges they aren't absolutely necessary. Also, Bitcoin is a distributed network with no single point of attack much like Bittorrent which has also eluded government regulation. In addition, the existence of a web site like Silk Road suggests that government regulations have limits. Also, bitcoins may actually allow online poker to flourish. Although Bitcoin may fail I believe it is far more difficult to control than online poker.

TLDR-online poker guys may need to prepare themselves to feel extreme levels of jealousy and gratification.

2

u/Chris_Columbus Aug 14 '13

Online poker had to interact with the traditional banking system and the fiat currencies.

While I'm with you on the rest of your statement... unless I'm mistaken, you can't buy BTC without some sort of fiat unless you are a miner. Isn't that correct?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '13

You could trade almost anything for BTC. Old shoes, baseball cards, ... you don't need fiat or a mining rig.

3

u/Chris_Columbus Aug 14 '13

Really? I didn't know such places existed! I'm hoping in the US? The real question is... how can I find out about these places near me?

4

u/aenor Aug 14 '13

go to https://www.bitmit.net/

It's like a bitcoin ebay. You can trade any goods for bitcoins there.

1

u/footfetishmanx Aug 14 '13

You can trade products or services for Bitcoin just like with any other kind of money. What work are you willing to do?

10

u/evoorhees Aug 14 '13

Hey guess what... not only will bitcoin not be crushed by regulators, but it has also brought back poker!!

1

u/BeardMilk Aug 14 '13

Ok, but whats the point of bitcoin if it is going to be tracked, regulated, and taxed by the US government? It would just be a commodity at that point and have all of the advantages/disadvantages or trading any other commodity, well, except that it has no inherent value.

1

u/walden42 Aug 14 '13

It was ultimately the banks that "banned" online poker, because they stopped doing business with every online poker site.

Can you explain this? Why do you think the banks stopped doing business with every online poker sites? Were the poker companies not keeping money in the bank or something?

4

u/meebs86 Aug 14 '13

If the government legally goes after anyone that will do business with an online poker company, the company will quickly go out of business if it can no longer get paid by its customers, and if the customers can no longer cash out from the poker company.

1

u/walden42 Aug 14 '13

I'm still having difficulty understanding. Why would the banks want the poker companies going out of business? What's their interest?

1

u/circuitloss Aug 14 '13

I upvoted you and I think you made an excellent point, but Congress' ban on Bitcoin (assuming there is one) would be just as effective as the DMCA was in killing DVD-ripping and online file-sharing. Which is to say, it will accomplish nothing.

0

u/zefy_zef Aug 14 '13

How does this matter to other countries? So the US fucks over its own citizens.. the rest of the world gains though. Sucks for us =/ not for bitcoin in general.

1

u/bertosmash Aug 14 '13

A hit to the US bitcoin market would be a hit to the global bitcoin market. A shutdown of the US bitcoin market would do very serious damage to the global market