Question
Do you guys think Bitcoin has any chance of being banned by the government? I keep hearing people say that Bitcoin has a chance of being banned, yet I don’t think so because very powerful people like Elon Musk along with other companies are large investors. Is their any weight to that statement?
Answer
Bitcoin being illegal in the United States is highly unlikely for the following reasons:
1-According to the Howey test, the Trendon Shavers case established legal precedent that Bitcoin is not an illegal protection.
2-The IRS has already formalised its approach to Bitcoin (as an asset)
3-Many rich and well-connected people have personally invested in Bitcoin, and they would be upset if their political colleagues make Bitcoin illegal.
4-Traditional financial institutions in the United States, such as ICE/BAKKT (owner of the NYSE), Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, CME, and others, are now actively involved in Bitcoin mining, investing, and trading.
5-Exchanges such as coinbase, square, gemini, and others are now very big businesses that are actively interested in Bitcoin.
6-Many local states have case law and regulations on Bitcoin that makes it more difficult to make illegal.
7-There is a significant body of current case law in US courts that defines encryption and code to be covered by the first amendment.
8-Making it illegal does not ban bitcoin, but would rather show that they are a totalitarian government, albeit an incompetent one, since stopping Bitcoin is much more complicated than winning the drug war.
What are your thoughts? We all hope u right, but u never know when we talk about U.S....