Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

blogs.wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 52 posts

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#21

Post by applecore »

clarkm wrote: post #15

And apparently Obama has also been asking about Bitcoin recently. > The president, whose most important job is surely to protect the integrity of the monetary system, smugly asked Schmidt if Bitcoin, one of many growing challenges to currency hegemony, was anything he had to worry about. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/wolff/2013/10/...

Interestingly, Eric Schmidt had no idea what Bitcoin was until Julian Assange first explained it to him in June 2011.

http://wikileaks.org/Transcript-Meeting-Assange-Schmidt?noca...

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#22

Post by ketralnis »

nknighthb wrote: post #19
ninetax wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Largest known balance right? Satoshi might have some unknown amount stashed away...

The location of all Bitcoins, and therefore the address with the most Bitcoins, is public knowledge. This is an inherent property of the system. If anybody tells you Bitcoin is anonymous, they haven't the first clue how Bitcoin works. Run away as quickly as possible, for they are dangerously clueless.

While blanket statements like that sound true on their face, I think it's safe to say that an unknown person may have a large number of coins spread over a lot of wallets. Especially people trying to hide their total balances, including people using tumblers.

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#23

Post by dil8 »

ROFISH wrote: post #20

Stupid question expecting stupid answers: Is there a reason why Bitcoin can't just be treated and regulated like any other foreign currency?

I think the anonymity of Bitcoin makes it tougher to regulate when compared to other currencies which generally pass through regulated intermediaries.

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#24

Post by rhizome »

dr_doom wrote: post #6
yeukhon wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure and also money laundering and underground economy.

I'm pretty sure that's what the hearings are going to focus on. They may also throw in a little 'anyone can anonymously fund terrorists!' considering the sessions were called by the Committee on Homeland Security.

They may also throw in a little 'anyone can anonymously fund terrorists!'

"...just like Peter King."

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#25

Post by zwily »

ketralnis wrote: post #22
nknighthb wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The location of all Bitcoins, and therefore the address with the most Bitcoins, is public knowledge. This is an inherent property of the system. If anybody tells you Bitcoin is anonymous, they haven't the first clue how Bitcoin works. Run away as quickly as possible, for they are dangerously clueless.

While blanket statements like that sound true on their face, I think it's safe to say that an unknown person may have a large number of coins spread over a lot of wallets. Especially people trying to hide their total balances, including people using tumblers.

The original assertion was about a single address having the most coins, which is true.

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#26

Post by vyrotek »

drewblaisdell wrote: post #12
narrator wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You bitcoin guys think you can push buttons on your computer and code around the system. So naive. Sorry to be a pessimist, but they can just say anyone transferring bitcoin to another party without going through a KYC compliant intermediary is money laundering and then send the swat team out to whatever ip they can track down via NSA whatever. Game. Set. Match. Banks win as usual, all done. They'll take it down just…

They'll take it down just like Pirate Bay, etc. I think you have unintentionally predicted exactly what will happen.

Sure, you're not going to completely squash it but it will then be considered a "dirty" service and only be used for illegal activities. No U.S. business will ever touch it again.

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#27

Post by vyrotek »

dil8 wrote: post #23
ROFISH wrote: post #20

Stupid question expecting stupid answers: Is there a reason why Bitcoin can't just be treated and regulated like any other foreign currency?

I think the anonymity of Bitcoin makes it tougher to regulate when compared to other currencies which generally pass through regulated intermediaries.

Honest question. Isn't giving someone a $20 bill for something more anonymous than BitCoin?

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#28

Post by dublinben »

vyrotek wrote: post #26
drewblaisdell wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll take it down just like Pirate Bay, etc. I think you have unintentionally predicted exactly what will happen.

Sure, you're not going to completely squash it but it will then be considered a "dirty" service and only be used for illegal activities. No U.S. business will ever touch it again.

The recent shutdown of Liberty Reserve, another digital currency favored by criminals, shows the extent to which the U.S authorities are willing to go in cases like this. Nowhere on earth is safe if you are running/facilitating a multi-billion dollar money laundering operation.

Re: Bitcoin Comes Under Senate Scrutiny

#30

Post by yeukhon »

dr_doom wrote: post #6
yeukhon wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure and also money laundering and underground economy.

I'm pretty sure that's what the hearings are going to focus on. They may also throw in a little 'anyone can anonymously fund terrorists!' considering the sessions were called by the Committee on Homeland Security.

Yeah. I also wonder if in the future people will use bitcoin to keep their cash since Swiss banks are not as independent as they used to be anymore.
Post reply on HN