zlacker

>>mikeyo+(OP)
Shouldn't all true crypto believers hate this news?

It's the government trying to enforce their opinion of who should own those Bitcoins, thereby taking power away from the owner that the network has decided on, which would be "whoever has the cryptographic keys".

>>fxtent+35
no. this is quite bullish for bitcoin. they're showing that bitcoin can't be used for criminal activity, whatever the government decides that should be (usually in favor of the general public). this helps to legitimize bitcoin. Protecting consumers of bitcoin is bullish for bitcoin. helping to prevent fraud in bitcoin is also bullish for bitcoin. All these things increase confidence in bitcoin as a legitimate way of storing wealth.

>>throw8+KC
It sounds like all the good things for bitcoin here are coming from the power of the central authority to provide confidence, legitimacy, protection, and legal recourse.

So why on earth is that a good thing for an asset which is all about the power of decentralized systems?

>>boc+6L
That feels like it's an easy answer:

Human society, for a number of years now, has been governed by central authorities that define the rules in which society has to live. Bitcoin cannot and does not take part in dictating how society is to function, Bitcoin is put forward as an alternative currency that cannot be quantitavely eased / printed and gifted to society's largest entities as reward for criminal behaviours that endangered the very society that the central authorities are meant to be acting in protection of.

Central authority is a basic requirement of society. Bitcoin is an alternative currency. Recognition by the central authority of society is a legitimisation of Bitcoin in its position as an alternative currency.

I don't (sort of I do actually) understand Bitcoin being seen as a replacement for all centralisation / government. Bitcoin has never attempted to make legislation. Currency only (and that's shrunk to 'store of value').

DAO's on the other hand... maybe.

>>BLKNSL+dV1
People get way too hung up on the concept of "hard" currency. It really takes some study of economic and financial history to understand that currency is just a means to an end, and that hoping for some immutable piece of value in your personal vault isn't what powers our world. Money is far more abstract than anything in the crypto world, and that's why it's not a good long-term bet.

I'd encourage you to read an excellent primer on the subject: The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson. Money is a social construct, not anything tangible. You can create money from leaves you rake in your yard, and organize your neighborhood around how many leaves you have. You can all agree that the giant stone at the bottom of the bay belongs to the unfortunate sailor who lost it, and therefore he's still wealthy even though he can't get his giant stone back (true story). You can agree that the people who are oldest in society deserve the most access to credit, and give them services accordingly.

Basic point here is that wealth is derived from society creating connections and performing services for each other, not from holding currency. Currency is simply the oil in the machinery which helps facilitate these connections. It has no intrinsic value, and the easier it flows, the faster the engine can run. That's why the Fed conducts QE and money printing - it's about the economy, not the currency. Inflation is a side-effect but it's often preferable to loss of real assets and jobs and lives.