@ffssixtynine
I see you like government involvement, or at the very least - you think that there's no use in resisting it. With your little crafted example of Bin retard, for instance. Fear as a tactic? Its working for the DHS rather well, isn't it? So naturally you adopt this stance and say "Well, look - we can catch bad people if we do X, Y and Z" without stopping for one second and looking at the principles being violated.
Personal freedom and financial freedom are worthwhile, no matter how many horrible counter-examples you can give. For every system there are positives and negatives, and I'm not going to give up this fight just because someone is scared the "bad guys" will abuse it.
As for the "Bitcoin Foundation", all they've done is raise Bitcoin's visibility towards the very forces that can cause us harm (Depending on where you live, I guess.). Thanks a load, guys, you're really pals. Entertaining or "just discussing" these issues with government aren't helping anyone, at all.
All they'll end up achieving is crippling U.S. involvement with Bitcoin, and then other countries will take the torch and leave them in the dust.
This is simply idiocy.
Can I just clarify that no no no I'm not in favour of any of it. I have said that several times
However, some form of regulation is going to happen. It doesn't matter what you say, what I say, what the foundation say, it is going to happen. Just like with KYC with exchanges. Refusing to discuss it internally, let alone externally, is folly in the extreme. You'll then have people like yifu having the regulator's ear instead. That would be an utter nightmare - there would be no balance.
They haven't raised Bitcoin's visibility in this respect - this is being discussing heavily at regulators world wide and multiple companies are working on how they can make money by getting in bed with the gov at our expense (some may even believe it's the right thing to do). I've known this was under discussion in the UK and US since July. It only takes a few contacts to know what's going on, plus enough has been said in public, and many other people here know this too. The only people with their knickers in a twist over a simple discussion are people here.
Let me make clear the difference between something being discussed to as to know how to deal with questioning, which is absolutely essential, and coming out and saying at we should do x. It's important to recognise the difference. In order to counter arguments for black green grey etc listing, you need to have discussed it, including technical approaches. Not doing so means being caught with your pants down.
Regulators are not necessarily your enemy, but governments and law enforcement certainly can be. Regulators are the guys in the middle. It's all rather more complex than you seem to realise.
Btw This issue goes way beyond the US.
Most certainly the issue is beyond any given national border - I agree. Thank you for asserting that you don't back the "governance by fear" technique, it gives me hope in humanity in general.
Here's the real problem that I think the non-elected-by-majority-of-bitcoin-users Bitcoin Foundation is causing:
They are operating under the assumption that the U.S. Government will play fair.
The government in this case has already proven that they will not play fair, in fact, they'll utilize whatever they can grasp to get their will imposed upon any nation-state or system they choose.
By going up to the government, and essentially baring Bitcoin's throat saying "You could kill us by cutting our jugular, but we know you won't because you're a good bunch" is such an extreme example of niave thinking, that it has stunned us all.
That explains the reaction, and it most certainly explains why all these "mere discussions" about the "inevitability" of regulation are happening in the least-transparent way possible.
History is a harsh judge, and upon the Bitcoin Foundation, it will be the harshest of all.
