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The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

stephendiehl.com

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Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#311

Post by ur-whale »

samvher wrote: post #188
DickingAround wrote: post #53

This article seems to intentionally ignore the core reason for cryptocurrencies; escaping inflation and control. The article then proposes to use the law to bring those people back within the control of fiat and government oversight. I no longer think the environmental argument is really plausible here. Clearly crypto mining is emitting using a lot of power and some of that is CO2. But the competition is fiat; backed…

> But the competition is fiat; backed by fighter jets and nukes; literally. How is it that someone can't steal your money? The bank makes sure. How is it the bank can be sure? The cops protect them. How is it the cops aren't overwhelmed? The military protects them. At first glance, I find this an interesting take and it makes me rethink some things. But I don't think I find it very convincing, or at least it's too ex…

> The primary purpose of banks is to lend

This is really not the case anymore in the 21st century, especially with interest rates where they are now.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#312

Post by vharuck »

samvher wrote: post #188
DickingAround wrote: post #53

This article seems to intentionally ignore the core reason for cryptocurrencies; escaping inflation and control. The article then proposes to use the law to bring those people back within the control of fiat and government oversight. I no longer think the environmental argument is really plausible here. Clearly crypto mining is emitting using a lot of power and some of that is CO2. But the competition is fiat; backed…

> But the competition is fiat; backed by fighter jets and nukes; literally. How is it that someone can't steal your money? The bank makes sure. How is it the bank can be sure? The cops protect them. How is it the cops aren't overwhelmed? The military protects them. At first glance, I find this an interesting take and it makes me rethink some things. But I don't think I find it very convincing, or at least it's too ex…

Exactly. As long as people need land and die when shot, there will be militaries.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#313

Post by [deleted] »

golemotron wrote: post #115
BitwiseFool wrote: post #40

Is "Electricity Neutrality" a concept? Does the government have any control over how I use the electricity that I pay for? This is a genuine question and I'm not trying to be snarky.

The article neglects the best argument for crypto. It will force us to do more energy research and put more money into hydroelectric, solar, and nuclear. We shouldn't let concerns about the environmental problems of current energy sources lead us to destroy an incentive structure that can lead us away from them. Harness the tiger, don't put it down.

[deleted]

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#314

Post by djoldman »

lmilcin wrote: post #298
djoldman wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't mean to imply that Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency will cause militaries to go away. >Military is there because we don't know how to do better. This is exactly my point. Many people think we *do* know how to do better: stop spending so much of our resources and energy on militarization. If we want to say that Bitcoin is a waste of energy, let's also point out all the other things people think are a waste…

You can't get rid of military unless you want to become completely defenseless and open to conquer. Peace is a temporary equilibrium where nobody profits from starting hostilities. Nobody profits from starting hostilities because they know it is going to cost them. If you are not being robbed or beaten or raped that is because there is police and government that can ensure anybody doing this faces good chance of payi…

Perhaps the US could significantly lessen its resource and energy spend on the military and achieve the same benefits, no?

What about the entertainment industries of the world? Is it ok to spend resources on entertainment but not bitcoin?

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#315

Post by ur-whale »

ggreer wrote: post #120
BitwiseFool wrote: post #40

Is "Electricity Neutrality" a concept? Does the government have any control over how I use the electricity that I pay for? This is a genuine question and I'm not trying to be snarky.

I don't know of any place requiring different rates and metering for certain uses, but many power companies offer such things as an option. For example: In California, PG&E offers different metering plans for electric vehicles.[1] These plans make it much more expensive to charge your vehicle during peak hours (daytime) and significantly cheaper to charge during the night. Though once you are on separate meters, you'…

> don't know of any place requiring different rates and metering for certain uses

I don't know about electricity, but this certainly exists for fossil fuels.

In some country, diesel has a completely different price if you use it in your car or use it in your tractor to plow a field.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#316

Post by tome »

jude- wrote: post #300
tome wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What math prevents a big enough group of miners and users rolling back the blockchain?

I'd rather that happen to my country's wealth than have it bombed out of existence.

Seems like a non sequitur and moreover a false dilemma.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#317

Post by tome »

gher-shyu3i wrote: post #292
tome wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A) REITs exist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_investment_trust B) Yes, stocks are not directly affected by the currency in which they are nominally denominated! Yes, inflation-adjusted bonds are not affected by inflation in the currency in which they are denominated, assuming you believe RPI to be a good measure of inflation. C) You can buy gold without having to store it yourself! For example SGLN or http…

> A) REITs exist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_investment_trust Are there REITs that don't deal with interest?

I don't know what you mean.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#318

Post by ur-whale »

csomar wrote: post #239

I think this article is a very nice example of why the US is superior (or at least I think is superior) to China. The political system that allows someone (or some entity) uninhibited power over its citizens, institutions, companies and rights; or the political system where power is fragmented and people need to converge toward a solution (through potential infighting in a big building), need to convince other people…

> His whole blog is a crypto rage

Indeed, and that makes it quite hard to to pay any attention to what he has to say or read to the end of the article.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#319

Post by gremlinsinc »

DickingAround wrote: post #53

This article seems to intentionally ignore the core reason for cryptocurrencies; escaping inflation and control. The article then proposes to use the law to bring those people back within the control of fiat and government oversight. I no longer think the environmental argument is really plausible here. Clearly crypto mining is emitting using a lot of power and some of that is CO2. But the competition is fiat; backed…

I'm not the biggest proponent of bitcoin, some of that is angst from not hodling any, but a lot is I feel it was more of a "concept" or "mvp". Ethereum/Cardano and other newer chains/tech are the actual "reason" for crypto. DeFi, and De-centralized autonomous organizations are the real world-changing things, eventually we could see a coin with automated taxation/basic income and identities (sybil-proof), it could essentially "beat" poverty and income inequality.

Bitcoin is an energy hog, and not very exciting... but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater cause there's TON of exciting research on blockchain that's way better. I think long-term bitcoin may fall out of popularity, esp as all the new things hit w/ ethereum, cardano, and their competitors and all the sub-chains on them and level-2 making it so transactions aren't nearly as costly.

Re: The political case for a blanket cryptocurrency ban

#320

Post by [deleted] »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #288
tome wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The transaction must be denominated in dollars, but must dollars actually change hands? I don't think so. Companies buy other companies with stock issues all the time.

> transaction must be denominated in dollars, but must dollars actually change hands? I believe it's the other way around. It can be denominated in anything, but trading e.g. the deed to your house for some Apple stock is a no no. (Doesn't have to be U.S. dollars, though.)

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