[LINK] Fwd: BitCoin DDoS and/or Wallet-Hack

[Jim Birch]

On Kim Holburn wrote:


> Which "the state" would that be?  It might be declared illegal in one
> country but that is unlikely to break it.
>

That would be the US.  Which is basically where Bitcoin is used.


> Your only argument is a kind of "if you're not doing anything wrong then
> you'll have nothing to worry about when the state puts surveillance cameras
> in your bedroom."


I'm not arguing anything like that.  I wasn't trying to run an argument on
the ethics of Bitcoin at all, let alone bedroom surveillance.  I didn't use
the words "should" or "ought".  Bitcoin is used as a tax avoidance
mechanism so it is already illegal and its "untraceability" makes it
attractive to people who are doing illegal things.  Theoretically you could
pay tax on Bitcoin transactions but I seriously doubt that that would be
happening at all.

In my opinion, a government would not allow a large volume of tax-free
transactions to occur without going after it.  The fact that the
transactions occur in a currency that it not issued by the government
generates further issues of sovereignty and economic regulation.  If you
think an unregulated finance industry is an economic problem - I do - then
imagine an unregulated finance industry running on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is small and difficult to track that's all. The tax system doesn't
(usually) go after people who put plastic bags of apples and a coin tray at
their front gate but they certainly would if it became a billion dollar
industry.


>  If it's tax you're really concerned about well the people who get out of
> paying the most tax are not poor or in general criminals.
>

Tax avoidance is actually already criminal in most jurisdictions.  I also
regard it as unethical, but I wasn't arguing that.  YMMV.  (  Al Capone
didn't go down for extortion, bootlegging, smuggling, conspiracy or murder,
they got him on tax evasion charges.)


>  The world black economy is the second largest economy in the world.
>

It is, and, guess what, it is subject to all sorts of sanctions.  You can
be thrown in jail for participating in it, if you are caught.  In some
places they will actually execute you.  If Bitcoin starts to account for a
significant loss of tax revenue I think it will attract the same interest
that other tax scams do.


> Crime is not the only reason for privacy.  It is a reason people often use
> to get rid of privacy.
>

Sure.  Most people with Swiss bank accounts, offshore accountants and
safety deposit boxes are doing nothing illegal.  They just want to keep
things to themselves for pure and angelic reasons.

Jim