Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by rothbardrand 3124 days ago
One of the great things about bitcoin is it gives libertarianism a business model... and it's right out of SEK3's New Libertarian Manifesto--which was written in the 1970s-- SEK game theorized out what would happen with the Soviet Union, and proved to be correct 20 years later... now we are seeing the exact same game plan here in the USA with bitcoin and this law. But they are too late. Most likely outcome is this will get reversed or widely ignored.... but if they are successful, everyone smart will start leaving the country... or they will create an arab spring like response here, eroding respect for the government and police.

Gay rights couldn't be resisted in the age of the internet when everyone knew their cousin or that guy they went to work with was gay.... will be the same thing with bitcoin.

Question is, just how violent and authoritarian the tyrants in DC want to get.
1 comments
tehlike 3124 days ago
Nobody will leave the country, i think that's a very bold prediction. The ones that would leave would be hidden bitcoin millionaires/billionaires.

I agree on the "they are too late" point, but think of it this way: US already knew about your financials. This law doesn't change that.

link
rothbardrand 3123 days ago
People are already leaving the country, and at an increasing rate. The rate of renouncements of US citizenship has been rising for the past 20 years but sharply under Obama. They have started making it HARDER to renounce, as some sort of attempt to keep people in-- one of the pieces of advice you will see often regarding renunciation is to never tell them you are renouncing for tax reasons.

That's one of the reasons they will refuse (yes, you have to beg permission to be let out of your slavery, er, citizenship)..... so the old saw of "you owe taxes because you choose to be here" is false..

More and more americans are leaving without renouncing, just going off the grid in asia or wherever, showing up only to renew their passports.

Once some country is smart enough to offer citizenship to educated americans, the trend will become a tide.

link
tehlike 3123 days ago
Nothing that i am actually worried about: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-02-...

around 5500 in 2016.

link
tehlike 3123 days ago
There are countries giving citizenships already for the educated bunch. But most of this is catch22 - you have to have the smart people to attract even smarter people.
link