"Banning digital currencies will not prevent terrorists from using them any more than banning guns will prevent criminals from using them."
That was a quote from Republican Dana Rohrabacher today while he had the floor in the House of Representatives.
He first started out by defending the Trump administration from all the charges of collusion and nefarious activities between Trump and Russia.
Then he quickly turned to Bitcoin, which was quite a surprise to many.
Specifically, Rohrabacher said that he fears terrorists will use the digital currency for nefarious purposes (they already are). However, given that context, he made it clear that he didn't think it was best to ban the currency either. Which is where the title quote comes in:
"Banning digital currencies will not prevent terrorists from using them any more than banning guns will prevent criminals from using them."
Instead he had this to say:
"Blockchain technology empowers the good people of the world, but it could be used by those who have goals that are evil."
Ok, so what do we do about it?
According to Rohrabacher, we need to implement full scale money laundering and know-your-customer standards on virtual currency transactions and exchanges.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made similar comments about Bitcoin and the virtual currency space in the past.
When Japan decided to legalize Bitcoin as a form of money a few months back they also adopted and enforced similar standards on all of their exchanges.
Some thoughts...
For those of you that do not like hearing even the hint of regulation, this isn't probably something you want to hear.
However, I thought his counter argument about banning Bitcoin not being the answer either very refreshing to hear. If Bitcoin were to be banned by some of the largest governments in the world it would likely be game over for Bitcoin.
So, it sounds like many of the higher ups are leaning more towards figuring out how to integrate Bitcoin into society as opposed to outlawing it... which is great news in my opinion.
What do you all think, is this the best way to go about it?
Let me know in the comments section below.
Stay informed my friends!
Sources:
Image Sources:
https://www.poputees.com/products/guns-dont-kill-people-i-kill-people
https://news.bitcoin.com/government-will-fail-regulating-bitcoin/
https://themerkle.com/this-solar-mill-powers-a-small-bitcoin-mining-operation/
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Totally agreed. Post upvoted.
Bitcoin will get regulated more in other countries and in the USA. Eventually exchanges who want to continue to exist will need to comply and comply with this and blah. Exchanges as they stand now are only useful in buying into BTC. But that is not to say another system could be developed that also does this.
We don't need exchanges technically speaking. The technology already exists for Bitcoin atms and people use localbitcoins, but if we want to have mass adoption we need something big and faster and easier.
They should do sth about the gun laws first and then worry about cryptocurrency! Evil people will always find a way to do evil! Banning will be useless!
my response -- 'Cool bro, but is it enforceable?'
for the vast majority of the population who is/would buy digital currencies, this would be no problem. But for anyone who either wants/needs/desires private transactions, 15 minutes of research would yield countless methods of obfuscating transactions.
this will be a scenario of 'squeezing harder makes things slip through your fingers'. if they can't do it in china, i don't know how they would do it here without some NSA-tier implementations that would rile people up
My take here is that the US government is acknowledging that banning Bitcoin is useless. It is better to put in some regulations for the regular folks so it can go mainstream than to let criminals be the only ones to use it.
It is like when they banned alcohol. Prohibition proved to be unenforceable. Criminals took over the distribution and serving of alcohol. When they repealed the Prohibition, it generated taxes for the government and weaken the base of organized crime
I'm in china. I was not affected when they stopped RMB withdrawals on the Chinese exchanges or all the restrictions they imposed. I simply used Localbitcoin and bought all my BTC from there
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/10/bitcoin-drops-by-100-as-chinas-central-bank-corrals-the-market.html
Good points. Thanks for chiming in.
Banning never helps the PEOPLE! Alcohol, drugs, guns, language, art, and on and on. Banning is a classic form of control to provide the illusion of safety or narrative for manipulation. Just my 0.00000002 Satoshis!
LOL "Just my 0.00000002 Satoshis!" That's too funny.
Regulation is stupid. Decentralized anonymous exchanges. LULZ
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Humans have been involved in illegal activities a long time now, and banning cryptocurrency will certainly not stop persons who are seeking to do illegal stuff.
I think it is more worthwhile to find ways that incorporate these currencies in our way of life, as we try to quench our thirst for technological advances.
To me technologically advances needs an ally and crypto currencies are the ideal playmate.
One of the most often heard discussions about digitial currencies is that theyre used by terrorists and criminals, but if you return the favour and say that terrorists ALREADY use dollars, yen, and euros to fund their crimes, you'll either be met with silence or " well, thats something different"
Great point... They also breath air... If we get rid of all the air, we get rid of all the terrorists! Presto!
You can't ban what can't be banned. No one controls Bitcoin. My advice would be to let the people decide.
people do control Bitcoin but for now the government dont
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guns did not kill people || people kill people :)
Bitcoin does not bomb people, terrorists bomb people :p