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Bitcoin software provider explaining to Ontario Supreme Court how BTC wallets work and why they can’t freeze them

Government passes a law/issues a decree that says BTC is illegal and punishes people who mine it and trade it.
Doubtful they would do that as it becomes more accepted and ingrained worldwide. They'd only be left behind.
 
Doubtful they would do that as it becomes more accepted and ingrained worldwide. They'd only be left behind.

Blockchain technology is here to stay, but I'm talking about how the blockchain is used.

Over time, there's going to be more regulation and centralization of crypto. Just as there was once a time when the world wide web was unregulated, governments quickly caught up with it. They're quickly catching up to all the shady shit that happens in the world of crypto.
 
It's going to be very interesting to see how the filthy state adapts when mass adoption of crypto occurs.

You truly believe that there will be a mass adoption of crypto? 50k one day, 35k a week later, per coin? No state backing?

Do you actually think something like bitcoin is going to become a reserve currency?

At most, it'll frustrate law enforcement and provide citizens an easier route to buying quasi-legal stuff ("research chemicals" you're allowed to possess but not use, but you guessed it, people buy to use) or fully legal stuff the government is fighting anyway (kratom). But it also helps genuine big time criminal organizations...

Which isn't necessarily a reason for ordinary users to not ever touch it, but between the instability, the lack of state backing, and what it's actually better at than traditional currency, it's never going to conquer state-backed. Then again, I look on most of B-L Libertarianism as a counterfactual pipe dream.





Big-L Libertarianism: It'd work if people were awesome, but people suck all the available ass. 🤷
 
You truly believe that there will be a mass adoption of crypto? 50k one day, 35k a week later, per coin? No state backing?

Not only no state backing, but a number of reasons for the state to wipe it out of existence altogether - not the technology it uses but the libertarian fantasy tokens that are created by it.

The libertarians who bark at the moon about all the fake money created by liberals and the fed seem to forget something: all that 'fake' money has ginormously exaggerated the value of crypto, which is why more than half of them are in the red as investors. There's going to be a moment when they realize not only are they not getting that money that they lost back, but there's a good chance they might lose more. And when enough people begin to think "Shit, I'd better sell before these other fools are thinking what I'm thinking," that's called a Minsky moment.
 
They can issue a blanket ban.
That will get one or two fingers and there is no come back for them-- they will simply become figures of fun and appear ignorant and stupid .

Run correctly there are no assets to take .

They rest in the cloud and only the two parties have any knowledge about them.
 
That will get one or two fingers and there is no come back for them-- they will simply become figures of fun and appear ignorant and stupid .

Run correctly there are no assets to take .

They rest in the cloud and only the two parties have any knowledge about them.

You clearly don't know what a reasonably well-funded government IT agency is capable of. Dude, there's software out there that can crack the most advanced encryption - encryption that was once thought to be unbreakable. Everyone internet user - even on Tor, proxies, VPNs - has an entry node and exit node. Nothing you do on the Internet is private - absolutely nothing. Some things you do are anonymous (temporarily), but your identity can be revealed if people with resources really, really want to find out.

But let's say that law enforcement/military/security agencies are only successful less than 50% of the time they want to restrict crypto mining and use. The deterrent effect enough alone will make cryptocurrencies a *lot* less attractive to own or invest in. There are people who are willing to break the law to trade in all kinds of illicit things on the dark web, and people get away with it, but that doesn't mean there's really a mainstream market for it. They get busted eventually anyway.
 
Once again I have to point out that bitcoin is literally incapable of functioning as a currency because it cannot possibly scale sufficiently. Inherent to its very nature is a transaction rate bottleneck that is laughably small.

Picture yourself trying to pay for groceries when there's a seven hour wait time to process the transaction instead of the five seconds Visa takes to do it.
 
You truly believe that there will be a mass adoption of crypto?

Yes. The technology is sound and it works. All of the problems which currently exist with crypto are engineering problems, and they will all be solved over time. Bitcoin is only 13 years old, and the total market cap of crypto is already 2.5 trillion dollars.

At most, it'll frustrate law enforcement and provide citizens an easier route to buying quasi-legal stuff ("research chemicals" you're allowed to possess but not use, but you guessed it, people buy to use) or fully legal stuff the government is fighting anyway (kratom). But it also helps genuine big time criminal organizations...

Like it or not, states are the biggest of the "big time criminal organizations". You only have a certain amount of time to work during your life in order to provide for yourself and your family, and filthy governments confiscate anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of what people earn, thereby stealing 30 to 50 percent of their working lives. Crypto will allow people to work for each other without the government being able to tax that income. It will allow people to buy and sell items without paying sales taxes. It will prevent governments from taxing people via inflation.

It is extremely important for states to tax you a thousand different ways in order to conceal the true amount you are being robbed.

Which isn't necessarily a reason for ordinary users to not ever touch it, but between the instability, the lack of state backing,

State backing is worthless. All it means is the government's ability to continue to increase taxes as it devalues its own currency. State backing does not prevent a state from printing as much money as it wants.

and what it's actually better at than traditional currency, it's never going to conquer state-backed. Then again, I look on most of B-L Libertarianism as a counterfactual pipe dream.

A big L libertarian is defined as a member of the Libertarian Party. They are classic liberals, not anarchists.

Big-L Libertarianism: It'd work if people were awesome, but people suck all the available ass. 🤷

Yes, people do suck. They are all greedy, self-interested assholes who are only out for themselves. That's why giving a relatively tiny group of them power over everybody else is such a terrible idea.

But wait, it gets worse. Not everyone sucks equally. Wouldn't it be nice if only those who suck the least were attracted to political power?

 
Yes. The technology is sound and it works. All of the problems which currently exist with crypto are engineering problems, and they will all be solved over time. Bitcoin is only 13 years old, and the total market cap of crypto is already 2.5 trillion dollars.



Like it or not, states are the biggest of the "big time criminal organizations". You only have a certain amount of time to work during your life in order to provide for yourself and your family, and filthy governments confiscate anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of what people earn, thereby stealing 30 to 50 percent of their working lives. Crypto will allow people to work for each other without the government being able to tax that income. It will allow people to buy and sell items without paying sales taxes. It will prevent governments from taxing people via inflation.

It is extremely important for states to tax you a thousand different ways in order to conceal the true amount you are being robbed.



State backing is worthless. All it means is the government's ability to continue to increase taxes as it devalues its own currency. State backing does not prevent a state from printing as much money as it wants.



A big L libertarian is defined as a member of the Libertarian Party. They are classic liberals, not anarchists.



Yes, people do suck. They are all greedy, self-interested assholes who are only out for themselves. That's why giving a relatively tiny group of them power over everybody else is such a terrible idea.

But wait, it gets worse. Not everyone sucks equally. Wouldn't it be nice if only those who suck the least were attracted to political power?

lolz to pretty much all the above
 
What's the intrinsic value of a paper dollar?
This is as ridiculous as a 1634 tulip bulb speculator asking "what's the value of a paper dollar?". Well, except for the fact that tulip bulbs have residual value.
 
What's the intrinsic value of a paper dollar?

1. Full faith and credit - not blind faith in tulips and Cabbage Patch Kids, but United States law.

2. It's backed by all of the commercial activity of every American and everyone who contributes to the US GDP.
 
People who hate representative democracy,

Democracy at its very best is a bad joke, and your "representative" doesn't even know your name.

hate the people that chose their representative government.

People vote for primarily two reasons. They either vote for least worst candidate in self-defense, or they vote with the hope that the state will give them something for nothing.
 
Government passes a law/issues a decree that says BTC is illegal and punishes people who mine it and trade it.
:ROFLMAO:
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

then mine Ethereum! Or dogecoin!

hell, there are still people in china who take crypto. you can "ban" it, but it's lack of personal data, algorithms, and ease of use, make it impractical for any government to ban it, short of just threatening to "disappear people" who are caught using it.
 
The FBI has seized Bitcoin assets. So obviously it can be done.
it can be, but it's generally because people keep or access their BTC wallets on their computer. If you keep it on an external drive, to be accessed online only when you need it, it's pretty much impossible. impractical we'll say.

but all this to get back at truckers?

how about, don't trample our rights?
 
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