Topic: Why was USA Senate so friendly to Bitcoin? (Read 3720 times)

Good find. The red parts are the real content, this is why bitcoin never can be endorsed by any state. The rest is just incompetence or desinformation.

Prepare for a fight.

In 1995 the 104th Congress's House of Represenetatives Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services held 4 separate hearings on "The Future of Money."  Alan Blinder, then Vice Chairman of the FED testified:

"Discussing that point raises the question of whether the Federal Government should issue its own electronic currency. Government-issued electronic currency would probably stem seignorage losses and provide a riskless electronic payment product for consumers. In addition, should the industry turn out to he a natural monopoly, dominated by a single provider, either regulation or government provision might be an appropriate policy response. But to draw that conclusion now seems much too premature. The availability of alternative payment mechanisms will mitigate any potential exercise of market power, and government issuance might preempt private sector developments and stifle important innovations.

Finally, the government's entry into this new and risky business could prove unsuccessful, costing the taxpayer money. So while we do not rule out an official electronic currency product in the future, the Federal Reserve would urge caution. "

They didn't do it then and I don't believe they would do it now.  Certainly not after the recent roll out of the Health Care debacle.
https://archive.org/details/futureofmoneyhea02unit


Canada however has been developing a centralized electronic currency, the "mint chip," over the past few years.
http://www.mint.ca/store/news/royal-canadian-mint-launches-mintchiptm-developer-challenge-14900005?cat=News+releases&nId=700002&nodeGroup=About+the+Mint#.UsWqpvS1y-0

you guys are dumb as hell

if governments wanted to get rid of bitcoin it would be gone in weeks

i have posted this a million times

In fact I have a new way how to fubar bitcoin so bad its ridiculous

1) ban all bitcoin exchanges
2) use deep packet inspection at critical traffic points of internet to "break" bitcoin traffic into multiple networks by filtering the bitcoin traffic into regions, fooling bitcoin to split into multiple networks. Say 5 or so bitcoin networks globally of equal size for an hour. Then kill the filters and watch bitcoin network go batshit crazy as the 5 networks now fight amongst each other all with different versions of the ledger as they try merge up, chaos as people lose coins, wallets, transactions. repeat at random time intervals with random global IP ranges.

bitcoin mayhem and death from above.

you guys are dumb as hell

if governments wanted to get rid of bitcoin it would be gone in weeks

i have posted this a million times

In fact I have a new way how to fubar bitcoin so bad its ridiculous

1) ban all bitcoin exchanges
2) use deep packet inspection at critical traffic points of internet to "break" bitcoin traffic into multiple networks by filtering the bitcoin traffic into regions, fooling bitcoin to split into multiple networks. Say 5 or so bitcoin networks globally of equal size for an hour. Then kill the filters and watch bitcoin network go batshit crazy as the 5 networks now fight amongst each other all with different versions of the ledger as they try merge up, chaos as people lose coins, wallets, transactions. repeat at random time intervals with random global IP ranges.

bitcoin mayhem and death from above.

They understand the writings of John Nash (Nobel prize winner in Economics) and you don't?

(To help you out: Countries get rich when their people get rich.  Letting Americans get in earlier than everyone else in bitcoin makes them rich and makes America rich.  They likened it to accepting and investing in the internet in the early days.)

FinCen was talking to Mt. Gox in March and shut down their account months later when they still failed to comply.

It was weird, it's like the Senate was friendly to BTC but some other US actions have not been so friendly.  I think the Congress needs to get a policy together on BTC but I doubt that will happen.  The thought has also occurred to me that they are being friendly because China's yuan will be taking over but if the US moves first on cryptocurrency we can have a reserve currency to compete with China's because it won't be the dollar.

Along with china, the huge run up last fall was also driven by the then-coming Senate hearing and the almost love fest with Bitcoin at the hearing.

After seeing what then happened in China in December with their chilling-effect announcements, I cannot begin to understand why the USA spoke so favorably about Bitcoin and its potential.

What does the USA have to gain by allowing Bitcoin to thrive. And to be clear governments can kick Bitcoin to the niche baseball-card curb if it so desired. As much as Bitcoin advocates would love Bitcoin to rise above government's manipulative hand, Bitcoin can become nothing more than a way to trade between thieves with a single wave of a new law.

Here are some thoughts:

1. The dollar is toast and the USA wants to build some trust in the brand of "crypto-currency" not necessarily Bitcoin. Sets the table for a US based crypto currency. Heck Bitcoin is open source, why not let the code develop for a few more years, then steal it and make a USA pre-mined crypto overnight. They can just as easily at that time make Bitcoin illegal to own and provide a three month swap at current value to USA crypto.

2. The dollar is toast, and internally the government wizards see how Bitcoin and the like may be a future safe haven for value. So in their benevolence the good ol USA looks to provide options for us investors.

3. Those that consult the Senate are completely corrupt with their insider trading, financial instrument inventions, and back door dealings. So those consulting the Senate are poised to profit from Bitcoin success in some way. Coupled with Senate elect stupidity and they are easily lured into positive statements and a laissez-faire attitude.  

4. Bitcoin throughout the world is already a store of value. Speaking against it would only send our enemies running in faster. The USA needs some more time to infiltrate the Bitcoin Foundation and destroy it from the inside.  The USA will destroy Bitcoin and maybe a few other Alts all at the same time, while simultaneously providing a new coin of their own.

5. They are all stupid. Yes they could potentially all be stupid to not realize the potential for crypto currency and what it can do to the position of the dollar in the world.

I think being stupid is the least likely, what are your thoughts??

Just in defense of the weak US dollar aspect, people really should be looking into the bond market. With QE3, the Federal Reserve has fleeced many people who don't understand how treasury bonds work. They're a reason other governments are only holdings short-term bonds these day. Since the power of the US dollar is so closely related to the bonds market and interest rates, it's a recipe for disaster considering the egregious amount of national debt looming on our shoulders.

It would be worth everyone's time to do a google search on some terms such as "EQ3", "Bonds Market Collapse", "Treasury Bond Interest Rates 2013", "US Debt Default Consequences", and "February 2014 Shutdown".
These are all very real things and give very sound reasons why to have money in Bitcoin right now.

I don't believe the US will ever "forbid" bitcoin.

If the US government wants to make bitcoin go away all they have to do is issue onerous tax guidance that make use of bitcoin more expensive then other value transfer systems. To the extent other jurisdictions follow suite, the price goes to zero.

In 1995 the 104th Congress's House of Represenetatives Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services held 4 separate hearings on "The Future of Money."  Alan Blinder, then Vice Chairman of the FED testified:

"Discussing that point raises the question of whether the Federal Government should issue its own electronic currency. Government-issued electronic currency would probably stem seignorage losses and provide a riskless electronic payment product for consumers. In addition, should the industry turn out to he a natural monopoly, dominated by a single provider, either regulation or government provision might be an appropriate policy response. But to draw that conclusion now seems much too premature. The availability of alternative payment mechanisms will mitigate any potential exercise of market power, and government issuance might preempt private sector developments and stifle important innovations.

Finally, the government's entry into this new and risky business could prove unsuccessful, costing the taxpayer money. So while we do not rule out an official electronic currency product in the future, the Federal Reserve would urge caution. "

They didn't do it then and I don't believe they would do it now.  Certainly not after the recent roll out of the Health Care debacle.
https://archive.org/details/futureofmoneyhea02unit


Canada however has been developing a centralized electronic currency, the "mint chip," over the past few years.
http://www.mint.ca/store/news/royal-canadian-mint-launches-mintchiptm-developer-challenge-14900005?cat=News+releases&nId=700002&nodeGroup=About+the+Mint#.UsWqpvS1y-0

I can't help but think that the government will come out with its own crypto currency in the near future (within 36 months). Therefore they are sending a message that this is great technology but not endorsing Bitcoin per se. Build confidence in the subject but then provide a mainstream alternative that lets them stay in control.

If the government came out with its own currency, the masses would buy it over Bitcoin. I think i am in the vast minority when it comes to my Libertarian tendencies, most people would trust a US Government backed Crypto currency.

It was weird, it's like the Senate was friendly to BTC but some other US actions have not been so friendly.  I think the Congress needs to get a policy together on BTC but I doubt that will happen.  The thought has also occurred to me that they are being friendly because China's yuan will be taking over but if the US moves first on cryptocurrency we can have a reserve currency to compete with China's because it won't be the dollar.