[throwanem]

You may have missed the part where I called for Visa and Mastercard to be broken up as the trust that they are. We differ on the merit of crypto as an alternative, but we don't differ in finding the status quo unsatisfactory.

[theturtletalks]

Oh my bad. You were simply stating that Visa/MC are following the law as the government has instructed them to do so. You’re not supporting that law and just stating it like it is.

[throwanem]

No worries; I was oblique in my phrasing, for fear Ptacek might notice what I was saying and weigh in on how I'm full of it. ;)

It's not even so much 'as the government has instructed'. The laws around the associations grew around the associations, with much generous assistance and advice from their own paid lobbyists - much as with the darlings of the modern tech industry, in their day the associations were 'disruptors,' too.

When I say 'under current US law,' what I really mean by it is 'until the Sherman Act is applied as written'. It would be nice to think that might happen in my lifetime, but it has been some years since I could reasonably consider myself young.