Given the track record of D.C. bureaucrats in regulating anything related to the economy—when they’re not being “captured” by special interests outright, they typically make incredibly counterproductive decisions—nobody should be optimistic that the Treasury Department (or Homeland Security, which is naturally squawking about the terroristic threat posed by bitcoin) will acquit itself well.

    But here’s the thing: If the U.S.—not to mention any and all other governments around the globe—squeeze too hard, the hive mind that is constantly building, repairing, and revising bitcoin’s protocol will skip town one way or another. They—we—don’t want bitcoin per se. We want something like bitcoin that allows for greater freedom, reduced transaction costs, greater anonymity, and perfect accounting transparency. As long that need is there, it will be served.




posted 3700 days ago