May 7, 2016
Can Bitcoin be defeated by legislation?
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, business, cryptocurrencies, economics, encryption, geopolitics, government, internet, policy
The question breaks down into two parts:
- For what public benefit? —and—
- No, it cannot be achieved in this way
Governments are in the business of regulating certain activities—hopefully in an effort to serve the public good. In the case of business methods and activities, their goal is to maintain an orderly marketplace; one that is fair, safe and conducive to economic growth.
But regulation that lacks a clear purpose or a reasonable detection and enforcement mechanism is folly. Such regulation risks making government seem arbitrary, punitive or ineffective.
«— This is money. It is not a promissory note, a metaphor, an analogy or an abstract representation of money in some account. It is the money itself. Unlike your national currency, it does not require an underlying asset or redemption guarantee.
Continue reading “Can Bitcoin be defeated by legislation?” »
This is my first article without pictures. At least none of Bitcoin, because the copper coin metaphors are tired and inaccurate. At the user level, owning bitcoin is simply your stake in a widely distributed ledger. Ownership exists only as strings of secret code and public code. There is no physical coin.
