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Topic: Ruh Roh, bitcoin on the radar of the IMF? - page 6. (Read 12525 times)

sr. member
Activity: 350
Merit: 250
If the IMF try and destroy bitcoin 100 new alts will spring up.

But let's not forget there are *some* good folks at the IMF, let's try and win over 51%
full member
Activity: 237
Merit: 100
I really hope Bitcoin survive this threat
EDIT: Date of paper is April 7, 2013.....
full member
Activity: 147
Merit: 100
Why does the Impossible Mission Force care about Bitcoin?   Smiley  

Agreed, that any news is good news.
full member
Activity: 237
Merit: 100
@jaywaka2713: To destroy Bitcoin there is no waste of money for them. Bitcoin is simply too dangerous for them so all funds are allowed

Well, destroying Bitcoin destroys all the USD in Bitcoin and the funds of every other Fiat invested. Why spend 500 Million to destroy almost 1 Billion USD?
Sorry could you elaborate that a bit more for me please? Thank you
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
aka 7Strykes
@jaywaka2713: To destroy Bitcoin there is no waste of money for them. Bitcoin is simply too dangerous for them so all funds are allowed

Well, destroying Bitcoin destroys all the USD in Bitcoin and the funds of every other Fiat invested. Why spend 500 Million to destroy almost 1 Billion USD?
full member
Activity: 237
Merit: 100
@jaywaka2713: To destroy Bitcoin there is no waste of money for them. Bitcoin is simply too dangerous for them so all funds are allowed
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
aka 7Strykes
They can buy mining hardware  equipment for unlimited amount of funds and mine the rest of the coins to corner / control the market

They would need clearance and no committee would agree to wasting that much money.
full member
Activity: 237
Merit: 100
They can buy mining hardware  equipment for unlimited amount of funds and mine the rest of the coins to corner / control the market
legendary
Activity: 1050
Merit: 1002
Thoughts?

Expect the price of bitcoins to shoot up again soon?

Seriously, I think things are getting interesting. I agree with Gavin.
sr. member
Activity: 370
Merit: 250
In a simple metaphor: This is like Microsoft trying to kill Open Source. There is absolutely no chance of it ever happening.


It makes me happy. They are starting to realize their time is coming to an end much sooner than they expected.

For an additional warm fuzzy: All the Austrians love bitcoin. Jeff Tucker has been absolutely elated by bitcoin. Anytime I feel down I check out Jeff's youtube or facebook. Charming example of what anarchy is all about.
sr. member
Activity: 364
Merit: 250
The IMF couldn't take down Bitcoin if it tried. It's too late for that now. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do such a feat, and they'd need to pay a developer that understands Bitcoin enough to write code that launches hostile blocks. Also, they will have essentially deflated the US Dollar by almost 1 Billion dollars because of the amount invested in Bitcoin. Don't worry about this.

They could still create a good deal of havoc trying.  The IMF should be considered a serious threat, not just to Bitcoin but to the world.  It would be a very good thing if Bitcoin did, in fact, contribute to ending the existence of the evil bunch of thugs and thieves known as the IMF.  The sooner the IMF is up against a wall the better.

A true financial system shouldn't need an organization like the IMF in the first place! We are doing the Fiat system a favor if we ruined them.


We are doing everyone a favor, even them, if bitcoin squeezes them out.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
aka 7Strykes
The IMF couldn't take down Bitcoin if it tried. It's too late for that now. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do such a feat, and they'd need to pay a developer that understands Bitcoin enough to write code that launches hostile blocks. Also, they will have essentially deflated the US Dollar by almost 1 Billion dollars because of the amount invested in Bitcoin. Don't worry about this.

They could still create a good deal of havoc trying.  The IMF should be considered a serious threat, not just to Bitcoin but to the world.  It would be a very good thing if Bitcoin did, in fact, contribute to ending the existence of the evil bunch of thugs and thieves known as the IMF.  The sooner the IMF is up against a wall the better.

A true financial system shouldn't need an organization like the IMF in the first place! We are doing the Fiat system a favor if we ruined them.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1005
The IMF couldn't take down Bitcoin if it tried. It's too late for that now. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do such a feat, and they'd need to pay a developer that understands Bitcoin enough to write code that launches hostile blocks. Also, they will have essentially deflated the US Dollar by almost 1 Billion dollars because of the amount invested in Bitcoin. Don't worry about this.

They could still create a good deal of havoc trying.  The IMF should be considered a serious threat, not just to Bitcoin but to the world.  It would be a very good thing if Bitcoin did, in fact, contribute to ending the existence of the evil bunch of thugs and thieves known as the IMF.  The sooner the IMF is up against a wall the better.
legendary
Activity: 1652
Merit: 2301
Chief Scientist
Thoughts?

This gives me warm fuzzies; a University of Chicago professor speculating about how a wildly successful Bitcoin might affect the International Monetary Fund!

I don't really care what is said, just the fact that Bitcoin is being talked about in the elite Ivory Towers is a very good thing.

sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
aka 7Strykes
The IMF couldn't take down Bitcoin if it tried. It's too late for that now. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do such a feat, and they'd need to pay a developer that understands Bitcoin enough to write code that launches hostile blocks. Also, they will have essentially deflated the US Dollar by almost 1 Billion dollars because of the amount invested in Bitcoin. Don't worry about this.
newbie
Activity: 37
Merit: 0
Just ran across this paper by University of Chicago professor Nichloas Plassaras, titled "Regulating Digital Currencies: Bringing Bitcoin Within the Reach of the IMF." Hope you've got your barf bags ready:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2248419

Things get interesting (not in a good way) starting with page 17: "The Dangers of an Unregulated Bitcoin." It begins, "As Bitcoin continues to grow in popularity and value, it poses an increasingly serious threat to the stability of the foreign currency exchange and, by extension, international commerce. Recall that the IMF was created to tackle two global economic problems: the artificial devaluation of one’s currency to gain an economic advantage; and unstable exchange rates between various currencies. Bitcoin cannot trigger the first concern because the algorithm that supports it prohibits users from artificially manipulating its value. Bitcoin does, however, have the potential to create severe and possibly irreversible fluctuations in the foreign currency exchange. Specifically, Bitcoin poses a liability to the IMF and its member nations in the event it is used in what is referred to as a 'speculative attack' on another currency."

Did anyone catch that little slight of hand? It took me a couple readings before it dawned on me: "Bitcoin cannot trigger the first concern [artificial currency devaluation] because the algorithm that supports it prohibits users from artificially manipulating its value. " In other words, bitcoin is IMPOSSIBLE to devalue by direct manipulation—the oldest and most powerful destabilization tool in the IMF's playbook!—which is precisely WHY bitcoin is such a threat to the global central banking system. This paper is teeming with this kind of Orwellian doublespeak.

Now, I don't fancy myself the least bit knowledgeable about currencies, or about the IMF's role in managing global currency exchanges; if I had to hazard a guess I'd say that the IMF's boilerplate description of its own role is probably a gross distortion of its true purpose, at best. However, I DO know a bit about the IMF's record in other arenas, which generally involves looting the economies of underdeveloped nations by saddling them with unsustainable debt and then attaching draconian "conditionalities" to their repayment plans—forcing them to sell off public infrastructure and utilities, slash public payrolls, raise taxes and fees, etc.—all so that their victim's budget can replace these "luxuries" with astronomical debt service. I also know it's played a major role in destabilizing countries' currencies over the last 4 decades, particularly in South America (in direct contradiction of its stated mission, obviously). So needless to say a paper begging for the IMF's intervention into bitcoin made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

While there's too much nonsense here to parse paragraph by paragraph, check out some of the absolutely absurd assertions in this paper (page 18, last graph):

"Herein lies the threat posed by Bitcoin. In the event that a wealthy Bitcoin investor—or a number of Bitcoin investors—launch a speculative attack on a currency, what can be done to counter it? In theory, individual countries could diversify their reserve portfolio by purchasing Bitcoins from an online exchange. But if a central bank’s reserve is unable to absorb the maturity mismatches suffered by its central banks, who can it turn to? The IMF has no supply of Bitcoins; indeed it has almost no way to obtain them directly. The IMF obtains currency via the quota system and the IMF can only collect quotas from its members. Bitcoin is neither a member of the IMF, nor could it become one if it wanted to—IMF membership is only open to nation-states. The IMF could try to purchase its own reserve of Bitcoins, but whose money would it use? Which part of the IMF’s general fund would it deplete? In short, Bitcoin’s potential to become a major player in the foreign currency exchange raises a number of substantial questions for the IMF. In its current state, the IMF would be unable to supply the currency needed to counter the destabilizing effect of a speculative attack by Bitcoin users on a member nation’s currency."

The IMF has no way to obtain bitcoins, because it can't decide which of its funds to tap, and it's physically incapable of buying them? A few wealthy bitcoin investors have the juice to bring down entire currencies? What a load of horseshit. The true meaning of this paper should be absolutely clear: bitcoin has the potential to be a direct threat to the global central banking regime because it is immune their manipulation/politicization, and it must be regulated or controlled before it becomes big enough to be a serious competitor. Take this proposed "solution" to the "danger" of bitcoin (page 21):

"There are, however, two ways to incorporate Bitcoin into the IMF’s regime. The first option is to grant the IMF indirect control over Bitcoin by expanding the interpretation of an already-existing provision of the IMF. This approach requires the least amount of change and leaves the overall IMF framework mostly intact. The second option is to grant the IMF more direct control over Bitcoin by granting it and other digital currencies quasi-membership status. This more radical approach would require and amendment of the Articles of Agreement and would fundamentally alter the existing framework’s conception of a non-state actor’s role in the IMF."

Again, I don't claim any special knowledge about global currencies, economics, or finance; however, when a professor from a neo-liberal training ground like UC makes a statement like "the first option is to grant the IMF indirect control over bitcoin" (on what authority?)—and suggests that the financial powers-that-be should be willing to consider re-writing IMF treaties and bylaws and literally RESTRUCTURING THEIR ORGANIZATION in order to assimilate bitcoin—you'd better believe that the digital p2p currency revolution has the full attention of the global financial terrorists.

Thoughts?
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