Topic: The Government Is Trying To Explain Bitcoin to Normal People | TIME | #bitcoin (Read 1941 times)

The risks they outline are basically correct. However, they seem to forget that most of these threats are threats to cash also. I see no warning about cash?

Cash is like the wild west. Threats to cash include thieves who will try to steal your wallet. Cash is not federally insured, so if you lose your cash you are on your own. While it is not illegal to use cash, it it not advisable and should only be used by the most sophisticated financiers. Additionally, businesses that use cash may not be trustworthy. They may charge outrageous fees or even be ponzi schemes.  Worst of all, cash is backed by nothing more than the government! Unlike say... Bitcoin which is backed by math.

Moral of the story? Using cash may have its benefits, but don’t let it be your fool’s gold. Because “if it’s too good to be true,” the report said, “it just may be.”

Not if you are paid in BTC.  You could also say mining but that is a specialist operation.

The problem is to get btc we need dollars so..

Big Brothers Abound In Virtual New World

By Barry James
Published: August 5, 1996

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/05/business/worldbusiness/05iht-cyber.t.html



history repeats itself.

An independent government agency issued an exhaustive warning Monday about the risks of virtual currencies like bitcoin in an attempt to explain cryptocurrencies to the uninitiated.

“Virtual currencies are not backed by any government or central bank, and at this point consumers are stepping into the Wild West when they engage in the market,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in the statement.

Bitcoin risks, the CFPB said, include hackers who steal users’ private keys—the password to your digital wallet—using viruses and other malware. Unlike banks or credit unions, in which deposits are protected by federal agencies in case of failure, bitcoin isn’t insured by any government agency. If you lose your bitcoin stash, then “you are own your own,” the CFPB warns, and “there is no other party to help you.” Some digital wallet companies promise reimbursements for fraudulent transactions, but if there’s a widespread fraud event, it would probably be hard for most of these firms to come through on that promise. So what’s a bitcoin user to do?

“Read your agreement with your wallet provider carefully,” the report states. “Really, read your agreement with your wallet provider carefully.”

The report also tries to clarify bitcoin ATMs, which the CFPB points out don’t actually spew out bitcoin. Rather, the ATMs allow you to insert cash to be transferred into bitcoin to be moved into your digital wallet. The ATMs’ transaction fees may run as high as 7% and exchange fees $50 more than what you’d get elsewhere — and perhaps even more given bitcoin’s high volatility, the warning said.

The CFPB additionally warned customers of scams enticing users to invest bitcoin on the promise of high interest rates and no risk. In actuality, their bitcoin may be funneled into something else entirely, like someone’s food, shopping and gambling habits. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously warned of these so-called Ponzi schemes involving virtual currencies, and noted that such “fraudsters are not beyond the reach of the SEC just because they use bitcoin or another virtual currency.” And while the SEC’s authority provides some comfort, there’s generally few safeguards for average folks who step into the so-called Wild West without their guns and bugles.

Moral of the story? Using bitcoin may have its benefits, but don’t let it be your fool’s gold. Because “if it’s too good to be true,” the report said, “it just may be.”

Source"http://time.com/3103495/bitcoin-government-warning/"

The problem is to get btc we need dollars so..

It is not explanation for bitcoin, but warning which probably get people away from it. People can know nothing about this innovative technology but risk.

If they are explaining it and explaining risks then good.  If they are saying its for drugs and child porn it means ban hammer.