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Topic: [Legality of bitcoin] Can a country really control the use of bitcoin? (Read 332 times)

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I wanted to check here first if there's something wrong with the site in general since recently I saw a couple of tweets that mention problems with the site without going into details. Anyways, I'll contact support then.

Edit: Apperantly the site's been under attack and some services are not working including my balance update issue. They can't give any ETA for things going back to normal since almost all of their technical staff is on holiday. Sad Sad Sad Sad Angry Angry Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin
legendary
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.
Preventing people from using Bitcoin at all is impossible because of the very nature of Bitcoin. You cannot exactly ban and block it since it's so decentralized. However, it's quite easy to make sure that people barely use it. If the punishment is too high, the vast majority would not risk it, and thus Bitcoin can be effectively restricted in the country. I don't know what are the laws in these countries and how big of a crime it's there, but I sure would not risk using BTC even if there was a, say $1000 or more fine for that, let alone the serious risk of ending up in prison.
hero member
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

Prison time or even worst stuff, I don't know how fuck up the law is in those countries. I mean you can keep it underground but again it is a risk.

Why exactly is it risky? How will they watch you doin' it?
They won't watch you doing it, but they can work on network analysis and once relating a btc address to a real person they can apply the law. This looks dumb and barely to happen unless you are suspected or accused for something else. In my country, Tunisia, the use of crypto is not officially forbidden by law but we, as tunisian crypto users, know how the authorities can apply other laws related to monetary system of the country to accuse any suspected use of crypto.
That's unfortunate for you guys but I hope that those countries and their respective governments will realize the importance of Crypto Currency especially in a world the keeps on evolving and run by technology. In my country, the use of Crypto Currencies such a Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins are not forbidden but our government warns us to be vigilant in using it so we don't fall prey for any scam activities of scammers.
It's more weird that your government advice you the vigilance toward crypto use. It's even more funny than to ban its use.
Bitcoin is a decentralised system which is not governed by any authority and no one can stop someone using it. If the government advice people to stay away from bitcoin or apply punishment laws, it's the sign of fear of losing control over citizen funds and ownerships. Bankers will always support the forbid of bitcoin .
full member
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According to international law and civil law of most states, any business activity is considered legal until there is no special regulatory restriction on it. Therefore, if in any country there are still no laws and regulations regarding the regulation or prohibition of cryptocurrency, its circulation should be considered legal.
In general, the government and legislators of a particular state can significantly limit the circulation of bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies, however, it is hardly possible to fully control it without banning or disabling the Internet. However, if the state takes its tough measures with respect to cryptocurrency, then there will also be no mass use in this state.
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Why exactly is it risky? How will they watch you doin' it?
If a government wants to ban BTCitcoin what they will do is to force the exchanges to shut their doors and you cannot use your banking system to invest in BTCitcoin as you will leave a digital tail, these are the resources they will be using to monitor your activities but if you are smart enough and carry on trading with P2P based exchanges where exchanges acts as an escrow for the deal then it will be hard for them to follow and for an extra precaution if you can create a freelance portfolio when a question arises from where the random transaction occurs if the authorities approaches you then you are almost safe and none of the government will be able to control everything completely.
legendary
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Nothing can stop you from using bitcoin because it's a decentralized system and even governments can't shut it down.
What matters here and what you must know is that bitcoin, like many other cryptocurrencies, is not fully anonymous but pseudo-anonymous. It means if you are not careful enough, your government will be able to track you down and link all your transactions to your real identity.
full member
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

Prison time or even worst stuff, I don't know how fuck up the law is in those countries. I mean you can keep it underground but again it is a risk.

Why exactly is it risky? How will they watch you doin' it?
They won't watch you doing it, but they can work on network analysis and once relating a btc address to a real person they can apply the law. This looks dumb and barely to happen unless you are suspected or accused for something else. In my country, Tunisia, the use of crypto is not officially forbidden by law but we, as tunisian crypto users, know how the authorities can apply other laws related to monetary system of the country to accuse any suspected use of crypto.
That's unfortunate for you guys but I hope that those countries and their respective governments will realize the importance of Crypto Currency especially in a world the keeps on evolving and run by technology. In my country, the use of Crypto Currencies such a Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins are not forbidden but our government warns us to be vigilant in using it so we don't fall prey for any scam activities of scammers.
legendary
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Almost no one can stop you or any guy in a country to use BTC, you can send and receive transactions and if you are cautious you'll be good, but if government make BTC illegal, the country won't have any exchange to change to and from fiat and this is a problem, you'll have to trust in services from another countries and they can't share information with your contry
This is really difficulty, and if I have a country where BTC was banned, I would not have any BTC, it's not worth the risk to go to prison in my opinion
hero member
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

No one can stop not even the government. But there are countries that can put internet censorship, so they can definitely block someone to do bitcoin transactions. The thing is, there are only few countries that suppresses internet such as China, if I'm not mistaken. As far as bitcointalk ban? you can read the following threads:

Countries that banned bitcointalk.org
newbie
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

Bitcoin was invented so that no one could control it. What do many people want to do? Try to control it...
full member
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Definitely yes, if the government really believes on bitcoin they will accept it in their land, bitcoin always provide good thing to everyone that is why there are so many people are using it and do mining just to have it. I really don't know why there are still some countries that do not accept bitcoin in their land, If they will provide a time learning and getting familiar in cryptocurrency they will know the benefits of the bitcoin.

They will control the bitcoin especially if the country is really advance in technology and if they have stable and strong internet connection because both things are really need when accessing the bitcoin.

Maybe goverments that count Bitcoin as an illegal currency should ban the access to "bitcointalk.org" too  Grin
Lol, they really should because bitcointalk.org is really good in getting knowledge about cryptocurrency, if they will try it and try to read and understand some posts here, they will know ho good bitcoin can be.
full member
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To some extent. But it will not be able to control 100% because it is impossible.
legendary
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The majority of people love convenience, which means buy/sell something as quickly as possible and doesn't have to chat with banks each time they receive money. If banks or other services that they mainly use are not allowed to use crypto, then most of them won't touch it because it will be a pain in the ass when they found out that you're using crypto (even if you exchange it to fiat).

But as many people said, the network is impossible to control unless you cut off every miner facility so the block would stop. It's easy to make new wallets, send bitcoins and so on. Except you plant malware on every computer in the country. But even if that happens, using a live OS would do the trick.
full member
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Maybe goverments that count Bitcoin as an illegal currency should ban the access to "bitcointalk.org" too  Grin

I don't know much about it but even if they do ban Bitcointalk.org, people will still be able to access it through the use of VPN.

Although banning of Bitcoin will be an inconvenience, people will still be able to use using but the downside is there's just no way that the bank or any registered remittance businesses will accept your earned Bitcoin from the exchanges. Well, it's not like there's no way though. There's a lot of services here in the forum and in the internet that does help you.
hero member
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Bitcoin can't be controlled because in the first place it's decentralized.
Legality means users are free to spend their bitcoin without fear as long as transactions are legal, of course there are also illegal transactions which is not different from fiat where it's illegal to buy illegal drugs, or to gamble if gambling is illegal in your country.

Legality means a lot especially for the long term as it will give a way for massive adoption.
Now, if the county deemed bitcoin as illegal, then people who uses it will face consequences once they are caught.
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

Prison time or even worst stuff, I don't know how fuck up the law is in those countries. I mean you can keep it underground but again it is a risk.

Why exactly is it risky? How will they watch you doin' it?

BTC illegal means you can't use btc for anything (goods or other stuff which you need for daily life). Then what can you do with btc..? In that case you have to exchange your btc with that currency which is legal in your country. And for that case you have to choose  bank or other currency system which controlled by your government. And you'll got catch if you didn't proof your transaction source properly. Well it's a long calculation but still have a possibility. But it's true that if your transaction is not a big amount then you don't need to worry about it.

In that case, they can only use btc for online transactions like purchase goods/services via online merchants. If they do need their fiat, they need to use a 3rd party that is not controlled by the government, so not remittance centers or banks. But if the government can see their online movements, still not safe for them to use btc. It depends on how deep the government can investigate a person regarding his internet activities. But this is a waste of time considering that progressive countries are openly accepting the use of crypto or bitcoin.
full member
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

Prison time or even worst stuff, I don't know how fuck up the law is in those countries. I mean you can keep it underground but again it is a risk.

Why exactly is it risky? How will they watch you doin' it?

BTC illegal means you can't use btc for anything (goods or other stuff which you need for daily life). Then what can you do with btc..? In that case you have to exchange your btc with that currency which is legal in your country. And for that case you have to choose  bank or other currency system which controlled by your government. And you'll got catch if you didn't proof your transaction source properly. Well it's a long calculation but still have a possibility. But it's true that if your transaction is not a big amount then you don't need to worry about it.
jr. member
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Places like Egypt, Morocco or Algeria have set bitcoin use, illegal. What exactly stops people that live there to do bitcoin transactions since no one controls the network? And yes, without "cutting" their internet connection.

I'd say that NO. Precisely because it is a decentralized, open technology, the govmnts of any country can't just shut it down, it'd take serious efforts and there's realy not much in it for them. Best they can do is join the movement, check Argentina and their government backed efforts to adopt the blockchain for example.

For some reason I made this comment on another thread, thinking I was answering to this one haha
legendary
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Farewell, Leo
Maybe goverments that count Bitcoin as an illegal currency should ban the access to "bitcointalk.org" too  Grin
full member
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Hello everybody. I think that if the government really cares about cryptocurrency control and allocates a certain budget for this, sooner or later tight control over cryptocurrency will be established. This is not possible at this stage, otherwise they would have adopted the law, but no one knows the mechanism of this enterprise. At least I judge by my country. It seems to me that the introduction of KYC, on most crypto exchanges, is nothing more than an attempt by the authorities to penetrate this area. Bitcoin is widely discredited in the media - these are links of one chain, an attempt by the authorities to crush this area under their own unsatisfied paw.
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