Topic: [2022-01-27] Bill might give Yellen unilateral power to ban BTC and crypto - page 2. (Read 547 times)

Communism always finds an enemy even where there is none - I know this well because I lived in such a political system where people went to prison for 2-3 years because they sang a forbidden song. China will therefore always continue to hunt ghosts and fight Bitcoin, not because they continue to write nonsense that has nothing to do with common sense, but because Bitcoin is a danger to them that needs to be removed.

No, this bill doesn't ban bitcoin. What it does do is give the government the power to unilaterally freeze transactions or close accounts of any centralized exchange, service, or other entity, without any warning, public notice, due process, legal challenges, etc. Essentially, if you are holding your coins on a centralized exchange or service, then your access to those coins could be removed by the government at any time and there is nothing you can do about it. It's terrible for the whole premise of financial sovereignty, which is the whole point of bitcoin in the first place. But then again, so too is leaving your bitcoin on a centralized exchange in the first place.

Yes, we should be calling our representatives about this, but chances are that will change nothing because they all work in their own self interests and not for the people they claim to represent. Best thing you can do is make sure you are holding all your own keys and all your own coins.

This seems pretty anti-constitutional.The government cannot just steal your wealth without any reason.

I don't really think that this America Competes Act will pass,because some parts seems very anti-constitutional.This document will have to be changed almost completely.

No, this bill doesn't ban bitcoin. What it does do is give the government the power to unilaterally freeze transactions or close accounts of any centralized exchange, service, or other entity, without any warning, public notice, due process, legal challenges, etc. Essentially, if you are holding your coins on a centralized exchange or service, then your access to those coins could be removed by the government at any time and there is nothing you can do about it. It's terrible for the whole premise of financial sovereignty, which is the whole point of bitcoin in the first place. But then again, so too is leaving your bitcoin on a centralized exchange in the first place.

A state controlled newspaper - the Economic Daily - published a piece about how China needs to ban bitcoin yet again just a few weeks ago: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-25/china-must-close-loopholes-in-crypto-mining-ban-economic-daily

Further bans won't necessarily be about bitcoin itself, but rather the CCP trying to "show their strength" or to be seen to be standing up against this Western plot to overthrow currencies or some other such nonsense.

I don't know what else they could have ban without it already being banned?

There is no chance China are done "banning" bitcoin. There will be another news story this year about another Chinese ban whenever it suits the CCP to spread such FUD.

Is this really to ban bitcoin?

and ended in 2021 with a ban on crypto mining.

Those familiar with the crypto industry will understand that China’s crypto ban is not entirely a surprise. The country has maintained a hostile relationship with its crypto industry since 2013, when it rolled out its first set of crypto restrictions. China’s hostile stance regarding crypto dates back to Dec. 5, 2013, when the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the Ministry of Industry and Information and other financial watchdogs jointly issued a notice prohibiting banks from handling transactions related to bitcoin.

In an attempt to buoy a weakening yuan and block money from flowing out of China illegally, the country’s central bank began to investigate the activities of crypto exchanges in January 2017. The investigation focused on exchanges’ approach to forex management and anti-money laundering.

While China’s crypto community was still processing this new reality, regulators issued another directive forcing crypto exchanges to shut down voluntarily by Sept. 15.

In April 2019, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) labeled bitcoin mining an “undesirable” industry in its preliminary list of sectors that should be encouraged, restricted or phased out by local governments. Bitcoin mining, which is a computer-intensive process of validating bitcoin transactions to earn newly minted bitcoin in reward, fell under the catalog of industries the agency considered to be highly polluting.

For the better part of 2020, the Chinese government tightened its grip on crypto exchange activities within its borders amid an ongoing campaign to crack down on money laundering and fraud. In August, the PBoC revealed its intention to block over 100 foreign websites offering crypto exchange services.

The Chinese crypto industry’s problems in 2021 began in May when the State Council doubled down on past crypto policies by calling for the restriction of crypto mining and trading. Before this, the provincial authorities of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Sichuan provinces, which were all major bitcoin mining hubs, had begun to introduce policies that stifled the operations of bitcoin miners.

Under the skin, all politicians are more or less the same, striving to have as much power as possible that will give them absolute control over the people. The problem for Western so-called democracies is that such measures do not fit into the democratic societies they promote as fundamental human values. For this reason, the US cannot do what China has done, as Russia or India are trying to do, but use such moves to examine public reactions in order to determine how far they can go without compromising their political positions.

The problem for all of us is the fact that the US holds a large (too big) part of the crypto in the sense that there are the biggest of the biggest players (Coinbase, Grayscale, MicroStrategy), with the fact that they have more than 35% hash power and that the US still has a huge impact on the rest of the world. One such decision would only encourage other countries to try something similar, or they would even be forced to do so.

It sounds quite fascist to me.

This is not surprising, however, since socialism and fascism are first cousins. It would give Yelen quasi-dictatorial powers. I hope this is not the case in the end because giving such arbitrary power can end very badly.

It sounds quite fascist to me.

This is not surprising, however, since socialism and fascism are first cousins. It would give Yelen quasi-dictatorial powers. I hope this is not the case in the end because giving such arbitrary power can end very badly.

Secondly, it would “Eliminate all public notice and comment requirements.” Moreover, it would “Eliminate the 120-day limitation for measures imposed without regulation.”

...

It empowers the Secretary to prohibit any (or indeed all) cryptocurrency transactions (or any other kind of transaction) without any process, rulemaking, or limitation on the duration of the prohibition.