[weavejester]

I don't subscribe to the theory that the US government is a nigh-omnipotent entity that always gets its way. There are plenty of things the US government doesn't like that it has to live with, such as strong cryptography, pornography and P2P networks.

I also really dislike the fatalistic attitude that those in power will always get their way, and that we should never try to change the status quo because we will always fail.

[cookiecaper]

I don't think that the government gets whatever it wants and I don't think the people will always fail against the powers that be. However, I don't think there would be enough interest in bitcoin to make it outlast the interest the government would have in killing. The government and banks really hate this kind of stuff, it's not just a passing "that'd be nice to get rid of" thing.

[weavejester]

Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try. I'm also unsure how much of an interest the government has in killing it.

Bitcoins are not inherently anonymous, and in some ways it makes things easier for law enforcement, because all transactions are public and accessible without the need for a warrant. The hard part would be matching a Bitcoin address to an individual or organization, but maintaining anonymity against a determined investigator is hard, and requires a high degree of technical expertise to pull off. I don't think Bitcoins actually make things any harder to find criminals.