The got you use/call from the command line is still fully open sourced afaik from when Linus made it.
The server was open sourced too afaik so that can be freely installed or run anyway by the developers (there may be ways it can be easily decentralised and run on core if the community wants to).
Topic: What would happen to bitcoin if all bitcoin-related stuff on GitHub got banned? - page 4. (Read 1149 times)
August 09, 2022, 05:59:30 AM
August 09, 2022, 05:20:15 AM
I feel the actions taken by OFAC are necessary as it could help solve the issue of cybercrimes. Tornado cash seems to be getting notorious for the wrong reasons, as it is.
The Ronin network heist that saw users and the company lose over $615m was made possible by this tornado cash amongst other crimes and unfortunately, well meaning Americans who use this mixer have seen their accounts banned.
I strongly doubt if such a thing happens to Bitcoin will hold much ground because it has gained much popularity and countries are embracing it
The Ronin network heist that saw users and the company lose over $615m was made possible by this tornado cash amongst other crimes and unfortunately, well meaning Americans who use this mixer have seen their accounts banned.
I strongly doubt if such a thing happens to Bitcoin will hold much ground because it has gained much popularity and countries are embracing it
August 09, 2022, 04:35:07 AM
Are there other code hosting platforms besides Github that are not based in the US or upon which US Government sanctions have little to no influence?
Back to India! SourceForge!No, you host your own Git server (Gitea). That is what I and many others did when Hollywood came knocking on youtube-dl's door.
As far as Bitcoin the currency is concerned, it's not a mixer or a "laundromat", so it has nothing to fear. Even in a hypothetical situation, we can fight back, print shirts and all kinds of stuff with Bitcoin Core source code on it, just like the 90's cypherpunks fought back for PGP.
August 09, 2022, 03:17:45 AM
It is important to emphasize that Tornado cash is not a company but a smart contract that no particular person controls
It can't be a smart contract no particular person controls, because someone just controlled it. Banning repository, the main site, the developers etc., would only make it harder to access their software, but if it had been used by thousands of users already, it could also be reused.This is the same as banning JoinMarket from every clear net site. You've made it more difficult to do CoinJoins, but you haven't prevented its users (makers and takers) from re-sharing the source code, or even stopped their activity.
Are there other code hosting platforms besides Github that are not based in the US or upon which US Government sanctions have little to no influence?
Back to India! SourceForge! 
August 09, 2022, 03:16:53 AM
So, the question that bothers me is could the same happen to Bitcoin?
I don't think so. Bitcoin is not illegal and its current direction is getting adopted by large institutions. They can easily lobby against this kind of measures if it's the case.
What will happen to Bitcoin if the US Government suddenly decides to take down its Github repos?
Take down is not likely, maybe restricted access, but that means that reading is still possible.
If it's indeed taken down then internet archive still exists, many people also have local backups... it may be a small setback, but far from "the end of the world".
What if they ban all contributors, maintainers, and lead developers? Is there a place where the bitcoin codebase can migrate to? Are there other code hosting platforms besides Github that are not based in the US or upon which US Government sanctions have little to no influence?
In theory anyone can host a system similar to Github on his computer, just if it's not publicly visible there may come trust issues.
And obviously all the bigger systems like this are centralized. The most known is GitLab, but a list would be here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/24256558
Is it possible to build a decentralized and distributed code hosting platform that no one can censor or shut off?
Probably. But first the decentralized file system platforms need to become more robust/reliable, not just new wannabe projects. Also I expect that using such services cannot be for free.
August 09, 2022, 02:59:51 AM
Recently, US Treasury Department has put sanctions[1] on Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash, taken down their website[2], added all associated with the mixer addresses to the OFAC SDN list, and also, which is more important for this topic, compelled Microsoft to suspend Tornado Cash's Github account[3], all repositories and accounts of code maintainers[4].
And yet CoinJoin projects on GitHub like Wasabi are never shut down. Hmmm. LOL.Quote
So, the question that bothers me is could the same happen to Bitcoin?
Yes.Quote
What will happen to Bitcoin if the US Government suddenly decides to take down its Github repos?
The source code would start being shared on another website. Some issues or PRs may be lost in some projects that don't have a backup (can you even backup PRs or issues from GitHub?).Quote
What if they ban all contributors, maintainers, and lead developers?
They can't ban "all" of them since a lot of Bitcoin developers don't even live in US or in US jurisdiction.Quote
Is there a place where the bitcoin codebase can migrate to?
I don't think developers are going to migrate just because of this!Quote
Are there other code hosting platforms besides Github that are not based in the US or upon which US Government sanctions have little to no influence? Is it possible to build a decentralized and distributed code hosting platform that no one can censor or shut off?
There was a topic about this a while ago when GitHub restricted a lot of accounts:https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/github-is-shitty-why-not-a-decentralized-solution-5169284
August 09, 2022, 02:09:58 AM
My first impression of your post, OP, is that you're jumping way ahead with that last part of it.
I'm not familiar with tornado cash whatsoever, and I'm pretty ignorant about smart contracts too, but I did take a look at the article and I think what needs to happen is for this action to be challenged via the legal system, lest it set a precedent that might put into motion all of those github removals and negative actions against bitcoin that you suggested could happen.
Does the large and wonderful land of bitcoin happen to have a group of legal scholars who would take on a case like this? I've always thought bitcoin needed powerful lobbyists to fight for fair regulation and such. I know there are people like the Winklevoss twins and some OG whales that have some pull, but this seems like there's a need for pro-crypto lawyers.
Anyway, thanks for posting this info. I'm kind of curious as to what, if anything, is going to come of this action.
I'm not familiar with tornado cash whatsoever, and I'm pretty ignorant about smart contracts too, but I did take a look at the article and I think what needs to happen is for this action to be challenged via the legal system, lest it set a precedent that might put into motion all of those github removals and negative actions against bitcoin that you suggested could happen.
Does the large and wonderful land of bitcoin happen to have a group of legal scholars who would take on a case like this? I've always thought bitcoin needed powerful lobbyists to fight for fair regulation and such. I know there are people like the Winklevoss twins and some OG whales that have some pull, but this seems like there's a need for pro-crypto lawyers.
Anyway, thanks for posting this info. I'm kind of curious as to what, if anything, is going to come of this action.
August 09, 2022, 01:26:38 AM
Recently, US Treasury Department has put sanctions[1] on Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash, taken down their website[2], added all associated with the mixer addresses to the OFAC SDN list, and also, which is more important for this topic, compelled Microsoft to suspend Tornado Cash's Github account[3], all repositories and accounts of code maintainers[4]. It is important to emphasize that Tornado cash is not a company but a smart contract that no particular person controls; it is essentially as censorship-resistant and decentralized as the underlying blockchain upon which it is built. In other words, it cannot be "banned" easily.
So, the question that bothers me is could the same happen to Bitcoin? What will happen to Bitcoin if the US Government suddenly decides to take down its Github repos? What if they ban all contributors, maintainers, and lead developers? Is there a place where the bitcoin codebase can migrate to? Are there other code hosting platforms besides Github that are not based in the US or upon which US Government sanctions have little to no influence? Is it possible to build a decentralized and distributed code hosting platform that no one can censor or shut off?
[1] https://www.coincenter.org/u-s-treasury-sanction-of-privacy-tools-places-sweeping-restrictions-on-all-americans/
[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20220808144431/https://tornado.cash/
[3] https://github.com/tornadocash
[4] https://nitter.net/semenov_roman_/status/1556717890308653059
So, the question that bothers me is could the same happen to Bitcoin? What will happen to Bitcoin if the US Government suddenly decides to take down its Github repos? What if they ban all contributors, maintainers, and lead developers? Is there a place where the bitcoin codebase can migrate to? Are there other code hosting platforms besides Github that are not based in the US or upon which US Government sanctions have little to no influence? Is it possible to build a decentralized and distributed code hosting platform that no one can censor or shut off?
[1] https://www.coincenter.org/u-s-treasury-sanction-of-privacy-tools-places-sweeping-restrictions-on-all-americans/
[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20220808144431/https://tornado.cash/
[3] https://github.com/tornadocash
[4] https://nitter.net/semenov_roman_/status/1556717890308653059
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