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Topic: How BitCoin Can Benefit The US Government. (add to the list) (Read 3294 times)

hero member
Activity: 527
Merit: 500

Bitcoin will benefit the US government by collapsing it into a steaming heap of rubbish, ready to go into the landfill of history.

Umm ...and how does that exactly benefit the US?

Implying that the US Government is beneficial to the US...
legendary
Activity: 3920
Merit: 2349
Eadem mutata resurgo

Bitcoin will benefit the US government by collapsing it into a steaming heap of rubbish, ready to go into the landfill of history.

Umm ...and how does that exactly benefit the US?

more harm than good ... creative destruction.

Sometimes the optimal path (path of least resistance) is the "Reboot" button.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252
The question is: why bitcoin should benefit the US government?

What do you mean "why"? Because Bitcoin can be a useful tool, for good and for bad, for individuals and for government agencies.
full member
Activity: 228
Merit: 106
The question is: why bitcoin should benefit the US government?
sr. member
Activity: 434
Merit: 252
youtube.com/ericfontainejazz now accepts bitcoin

Bitcoin will benefit the US government by collapsing it into a steaming heap of rubbish, ready to go into the landfill of history.

Umm ...and how does that exactly benefit the US?
legendary
Activity: 3920
Merit: 2349
Eadem mutata resurgo

Bitcoin will benefit the US government by collapsing it into a steaming heap of rubbish, ready to go into the landfill of history.
hero member
Activity: 633
Merit: 500
The government will be many years behind Bitcoin.  However, why can't they simply start mining for themselves?  Over time, they can simply process transaction fees, when means they will essentially be collecting taxes on transactions.
newbie
Activity: 6
Merit: 0
In that case, thank you for replying, you've resorted my faith in Bitcoin.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252
Quote
people only invest in so they can get rich quick

This is utter bullshit. Some people may be speculating on a short term increase in exchange rate, but I doubt many.

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can't use to pay their bills

Yet.

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isn't any more anonymous than cash

Cash can't be transmitted digitally.

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and constantly deflates

Nope, the supply of bitcoins is constantly increasing (around 7,200 per day).

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if you actually USE bitcoin to sell products, you have to re-adjust your prices every 2 days because the value changed so much over the last 48 hours

This is only due to the demand for bitcoins outpacing the supply, causing an increase in the exchange rate. The same thing happens in any market that spans more than one currency.

This is only a problem while businesses expenses cannot be paid with bitcoins and/or the demand for coins exceeds the supply. Once both of those conditions are no longer met, the exchange rate will either equilibrate or will no longer be necessary to determine price denominated in BTC.
newbie
Activity: 6
Merit: 0
lol, suddenly that theory about the government being the one who made BitCoin doesn't seem so crazy.

If I buy something from someone's website using BTC and they mail it to my address, the authorities could subpoena the seller to release my bitcoin address and then they can connect me with the address, yes?

Yes, except they could do the same thing if you used a credit card, except with less hassle.

Ah, but I can use a credit card with less hassle than bitcoin in the first place. To which someone will reply with "but with bitcoin no one can inflate the currency or control it". And I will reply with, "what's the point of using a currency that people only invest in so they can get rich quick, can't use to pay their bills, isn't any more anonymous than cash, and constantly deflates so much that if you actually USE bitcoin to sell products, you have to re-adjust your prices every 2 days because the value changed so much over the last 48 hours."
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252
lol, suddenly that theory about the government being the one who made BitCoin doesn't seem so crazy.

If I buy something from someone's website using BTC and they mail it to my address, the authorities could subpoena the seller to release my bitcoin address and then they can connect me with the address, yes?

Yes, except they could do the same thing if you used a credit card, except with less hassle.
newbie
Activity: 6
Merit: 0
lol, suddenly that theory about the government being the one who made BitCoin doesn't seem so crazy.

If I buy something from someone's website using BTC and they mail it to my address, the authorities could subpoena the seller to release my bitcoin address and then they can connect me with the address, yes?
syn
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
I find myself spending a lot of time trying to pull people away from a vision of BTC that they want to be true, versus the reality of it.

Without even realizing that your vision of Bitcoin is not the same as the reality of Bitcoin either. Impressive!

OK I'll bite.  What am I missing?  What have I said that is inaccurate?  Instead of taking a pot shot at me, why don't you educate us?

This is what you are missing:

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With btc Bob does not have plausible deniability, because every single BTC transaction is documented.

The block chain records transactions between addresses, not identities. How will they prove that the address belongs to Bob? In fact, why will they even think that the address belongs to Bob?

I was trying to keep the example simple.  You haven't taught me anything new, except to ask me more questions.  Here are methods someone could attain btc with their identity involved:

mtgox account --> personal account --> drug dealer == busted
btc faucet --> personal account --> drug dealer == busted

do the above two examples with cash and you end up == NOT BUSTED (plausible deniability) (there are many more examples and I'm sure you can figure them out)

There are many methods one can use to protect their identity while transacting in btc, but to the average user who just wants to buy some drugs, they are much safer using cash.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252
I find myself spending a lot of time trying to pull people away from a vision of BTC that they want to be true, versus the reality of it.

Without even realizing that your vision of Bitcoin is not the same as the reality of Bitcoin either. Impressive!

OK I'll bite.  What am I missing?  What have I said that is inaccurate?  Instead of taking a pot shot at me, why don't you educate us?

This is what you are missing:

Quote
With btc Bob does not have plausible deniability, because every single BTC transaction is documented.

The block chain records transactions between addresses, not identities. How will they prove that the address belongs to Bob? In fact, why will they even think that the address belongs to Bob?
syn
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
I find myself spending a lot of time trying to pull people away from a vision of BTC that they want to be true, versus the reality of it.

Without even realizing that your vision of Bitcoin is not the same as the reality of Bitcoin either. Impressive!

OK I'll bite.  What am I missing?  What have I said that is inaccurate?  Instead of taking a pot shot at me, why don't you educate us?
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252
I find myself spending a lot of time trying to pull people away from a vision of BTC that they want to be true, versus the reality of it.

Without even realizing that your vision of Bitcoin is not the same as the reality of Bitcoin either. Impressive!
syn
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0

Federal reserve notes have serial numbers, which may be recorded when placed into an ATM. Perhaps they then look at which bills with withdrawn by which account and/or retrieve ATM video footage. Or maybe I've been watching too many police shows.
recording a small serial number from a blurry, black and white, 480*360 camera? good luck.

No, I meant that the bank may record which bills were placed into which machine. Then, the police do a reverse lookup on the serial number, finding the bank. The bank then tells police which ATM they were last placed in and the police watch the video camera footage from the ATM to see who makes withdrawals. I think I actually saw this on Castle, so I'm not sure if it's viable or not.

If bob pulls cash from the ATM (let's pretend it's fully tracked and monitored) and then a 20usd bill of his cash is found in the big DEA drug bust, Bob has plausible deniability.  All he has to tell the cops is that he used that 20usd to buy his daughter some ice cream from the ice cream truck earlier in the day.  Case closed.

With btc Bob does not have plausible deniability, because every single BTC transaction is documented.

I find myself spending a lot of time trying to pull people away from a vision of BTC that they want to be true, versus the reality of it.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252

Federal reserve notes have serial numbers, which may be recorded when placed into an ATM. Perhaps they then look at which bills with withdrawn by which account and/or retrieve ATM video footage. Or maybe I've been watching too many police shows.
recording a small serial number from a blurry, black and white, 480*360 camera? good luck.

No, I meant that the bank may record which bills were placed into which machine. Then, the police do a reverse lookup on the serial number, finding the bank. The bank then tells police which ATM they were last placed in and the police watch the video camera footage from the ATM to see who makes withdrawals. I think I actually saw this on Castle, so I'm not sure if it's viable or not.
legendary
Activity: 2058
Merit: 1452

Federal reserve notes have serial numbers, which may be recorded when placed into an ATM. Perhaps they then look at which bills with withdrawn by which account and/or retrieve ATM video footage. Or maybe I've been watching too many police shows.
recording a small serial number from a blurry, black and white, 480*360 camera? good luck.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 252
Sure, but how long will these 50 btc block remain stale.  If the currency takes of some of the initial transactions will be mostly anonymous (I doubt this, because I know of dbs that have been tracking ip address of connections etc.), but as they get used (is that what they're for) slowly we'll be able to track a btc and it's journey through the btc economy.

I don't follow...

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When the DEA kicks in the door for a major drug bust, they get a list of btc addresses used for drug transactions.  They can now go into the blockchain and look at every address that sent money to these accounts, and possibly track down the users.

They can see addresses, but that does not necessarily help them turn those addresses into identities.

Let's say the drug dealers used address A. They could see a transaction from B to A, and C to B, and D to C, but unless there is some link between a person's identity and one of those addresses, the transaction history is no help.

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If the DEA found cash.... well.... unless your fingerprints, or the bill was marked, they aren't going to tie the cash back to the users.

Federal reserve notes have serial numbers, which may be recorded when placed into an ATM. Perhaps they then look at which bills with withdrawn by which account and/or retrieve ATM video footage. Or maybe I've been watching too many police shows.

Anyway, I agree that bitcoins may be easier to track sometimes, but that is not necessarily true in all cases. If a person knows what they're doing, they can fairly easily obfuscate or completely erase their financial tracks.
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