> Bitcoin and cryptos ought to be banned for good.
Serious question: how would you go about “banning” cryotocurrencies? The most you can do is close exchanges which would make crypto harder to acquire and liquidate.
_If_ I wanted do this (and was a government):
- Prohibit trading of cryptocurrencies, punishable by several years in prison if caught. Structure it so that you can personally go to prison even if you did it as part of a business. This should 'discourage' casual investors.
- Pass a law stating banks can lose their banking license if they allow transactions from/to crypto exchanges.
Basically, declare cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook. Obviously the real hardcore crypto lovers will still keep using it, and it will also not deter criminals who were outside of the 'regular' system anyway. But if you have a functioning law enforcement system like most western countries, you could certainly keep cryptocurrencies from playing any large role in your economy.
Would it not be the case that declaring "cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook" is a recipe for disaster? None of the drugs laws have really worked out all that well, as they've led to mass incarceration which has a high social cost.
Many people seem to want drugs. Banning them often increases the price, due to the supply going down or being more costly to obtain versus a constant demand. To follow the same playbook, there seems to be a non-zero chance that Bitcoin would become rarer, and therefore more valuable, and therefore more attractive than fiat, increasing demand even more. I think it's a crap-shoot what role cryptocurrencies would play after a large-scale ban.
But, yeah, _if_ I wanted to do that, and I was a government, that would probably be the way I'd do it.
Arrest and jail anyone known to buy or sell any amount of the currency, for cash of other other goods. Ban any comapny that trades in botcoin from doing an buisness in thr country. Sure, you can keep your wallet, but as soon as you try to exchange it for anything else, you are risking jail time... very few people would bother.
Basically, declare cryptocurrencies to be similar to hard drugs or something and follow the same playbook. Obviously the real hardcore crypto lovers will still keep using it, and it will also not deter criminals who were outside of the 'regular' system anyway. But if you have a functioning law enforcement system like most western countries, you could certainly keep cryptocurrencies from playing any large role in your economy.