[floatingatoll]

Countries can just ask you to prove how you earned income, and jail you if your proof is unsatisfactory to them.

India banning cryptocoins doesn't mean that people will automatically be jailed for mining on day one. It just means that anyone using cryptocoin to avoid paying Indian taxes can end up jailed when their expenditure exceeds their provable income, or when their documented income is traceable to cryptocoin, or etc.

The United States IRS doesn't have to make cryptocoins illegal to convert into currency; they just have to demand that you pay taxes, and have you jailed for tax evasion if you fail to do so. They don't actually care if you earn income through selling cryptocoins for currency, as long as you report the income earned without attempting to evade an honest assessment of value, and as long as you pay your taxes on that income earned.

[x86_64Ubuntu]

At least concerning the tax issue, the US government doesn't even need to do that. If they squeeze the credit card and banks as they've done for the adult industry and marijuana industry, we will see the entire market deflate. The only reason crypto is okay in the West is because an offramp into fiat is provided. Once that offramp gets closed, it's game over and we are back to 2010 in terms of crypto value.

[floatingatoll]

The US has instead taken the view through various upcoming 2022 IRS procedural rules that — as long as there's a complete paper trail documenting who the origin of, and who is responsible for paying taxes for, the cryptocoin when it is converted into currency — then there is no harm in offramps that collect tax ID information and report it appropriately.

Their focus on requiring "origin of and taxation of" attestation may impact the perceived value of cryptocoins when traded for currency, but they don't seem to much care if people want to generate hashes and sell them to each other, just as long as it's not used to launder money or avoid taxes.

It is of significant debate whether the perceived value of cryptocoins is in part due to its value for both laundering money and avoiding taxes, but that's distinct from whether the perceived value is in part due to the ability to sell cryptocoins for currency.