I'm not talking about banning Bitcoin though. That's a different thing. Most governments can't ban Bitcoin because it would look too outright authoritarian if they did.
What I'm talking about is governments arresting people for possessing illegal content because they copied the Bitcoin blockchain if it contains illegal content. They haven't had that kind of excuse to get rid of Bitcoin before. They might not see Bitcoin as a problem now, but if it gives people an escape hatch out of the sinking dollar then they will care when they can't control people through money, and I'm worried the ordinal inscriptions will give them a justifiable excuse to get rid of Bitcoin. I'm sure that people could create a better crypto currency to fill that void, but I want Bitcoin to survive.
Topic: Could Ordinals make having a copy of the Bitcoin blockchain justifiably illegal? - page 2. (Read 206 times)
May 08, 2023, 04:47:43 PM
May 08, 2023, 04:32:05 PM
I can imagine malicious government actors doing this as a way to have an excuse for governments around the world to seize any computer with a copy of the blockchain and imprison the person who copied the blockchain because they knowingly possessed illegal exploitative images.
Governments don't need to conjure any excuses to ban Bitcoin, because most of the population will be indifferent. A few hundreds of bitcoiners will gather to protest for a few days and then will go home. The fact that governments didn't ban Bitcoin so far means they don't view it as a big problem. Maybe they don't even view it as a problem at all, because not much people are using it in a way that would threaten the government - they just trade in on centralized exchanges and that can be and does get taxed. So adding any malicious information to the blockchain won't change much in the current state of things.
May 08, 2023, 04:24:51 PM
I'm new to Bitcoin, so I might not understand this situation well enough, in which case I would really appreciate some reassurance that Bitcoin is okay, because I am worried.
From what I understand, the so-called Bitcoin Ordinals are bits of data such as text or images that are inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain itself, either whole or in parts for larger files, rather than a link to an asset like an NFT.
But what happens when a malicious actor inscribes illegal exploitative images, which then become part of the blockchain? If this happens, it would then become illegal to own a copy of the blockchain itself because of the images included in it. This would be a justifiable reason to make having a copy of the blockchain illegal in a way that most people would accept. Am I missing something? Is there a way to mine and use the blockchain without this inscribed data?
I can imagine malicious government actors doing this as a way to have an excuse for governments around the world to seize any computer with a copy of the blockchain and imprison the person who copied the blockchain because they knowingly possessed illegal exploitative images. It's one thing that Bitcoin can be used to buy such images, but it's quite another to have to possess such images in order to use Bitcoin. The way I see it, that could justifiably destroy the reputation of Bitcoin and make it very difficult for people to use and destroy its ability to become a viable currency standard for the world. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if it were just a link or a hash of an image or something to prove ownership, but when you have to actually have to download illegal files to use Bitcoin, it becomes a serious issue.
Please tell me I'm missing something with how this works and that it cannot be exploited this way. If not, what can be done about it? This whole Ordinal business has me very concerned that this will ruin the future of Bitcoin. I'm hearing a lot about high tx fees, traffic jams, a bloated chain and such, but I think all that misses the real threat to Bitcoin.
From what I understand, the so-called Bitcoin Ordinals are bits of data such as text or images that are inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain itself, either whole or in parts for larger files, rather than a link to an asset like an NFT.
But what happens when a malicious actor inscribes illegal exploitative images, which then become part of the blockchain? If this happens, it would then become illegal to own a copy of the blockchain itself because of the images included in it. This would be a justifiable reason to make having a copy of the blockchain illegal in a way that most people would accept. Am I missing something? Is there a way to mine and use the blockchain without this inscribed data?
I can imagine malicious government actors doing this as a way to have an excuse for governments around the world to seize any computer with a copy of the blockchain and imprison the person who copied the blockchain because they knowingly possessed illegal exploitative images. It's one thing that Bitcoin can be used to buy such images, but it's quite another to have to possess such images in order to use Bitcoin. The way I see it, that could justifiably destroy the reputation of Bitcoin and make it very difficult for people to use and destroy its ability to become a viable currency standard for the world. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if it were just a link or a hash of an image or something to prove ownership, but when you have to actually have to download illegal files to use Bitcoin, it becomes a serious issue.
Please tell me I'm missing something with how this works and that it cannot be exploited this way. If not, what can be done about it? This whole Ordinal business has me very concerned that this will ruin the future of Bitcoin. I'm hearing a lot about high tx fees, traffic jams, a bloated chain and such, but I think all that misses the real threat to Bitcoin.
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