Archive for the ‘government’ tag
Sep 18, 2019
Johannon Ben-Zion, U.S. Transhumanist Party presidential candidate 2020 — Futurist New Deal — ideaXme — Ira Pastor
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, biotech/medical, business, cryonics, cryptocurrencies, economics, finance, geopolitics, governance, government, health, transhumanism
Jun 19, 2018
Will governments ever approve of cryptocurrency?
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government, internet, policy
The question was asked of me as columnist at Quora.com: Will governments eventually ‘approve’ of cryptocurrency? First let’s agree on terminology…
- By “approve”, I assume that you are asking if governments will adopt or at least tolerate the use of crypto as legal tender in commerce. That is, not just as a payment instrument, but as the money itself—perhaps even accepting tax payments in cryptocurrency.
- The word “cryptocurrency” is sometimes applied to altcoins and even to ICOs. These are not the same. Many altcoins meet the criteria of the next paragraph, but none of the ICOs measure up (ICOs are scams). I assume that your question applies to Bitcoin or to a fair and transparent altcoin forked from the original code, such as Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin.
A blockchain-based cryptocurrency that is open source, permissionless, capped, fast, frictionless, with a transparent history—and without proprietary or licensing restrictions is good for everyone. It is good for consumers; good for business; and it is even good for government.
Of course, politicians around the world are not quick to realize this. It will take years of experience, education, and policy experimentation.
Many pundits and analysts have the impression that shifting to cryptocurrency—not just as a payment instrument, but as the money itself—will never be supported by national governments. A popular misconception suggests that a cryptocurrency based economy has these undesirable traits:
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Jan 11, 2018
Say it again, Bitcoin Investors: “Bad News is Good News”
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government, policy
By now, every interested news-junkie is aware that Bitcoin plummeted from $15,000 to $13,000 (USD exchange rate) on January 11, 2018. This morning, every news outlet and armchair analyst attributes the drop to the Korean government signaling that it will ban Bitcoin trading among its citizens.
With Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un butting heads over nuclear missile tests and the upcoming Winter Olympics, you would think that South Korea has other priorities than banning Bitcoin.
As with all news—except accidents—the Korean plans were known by a few insiders (in this case, government bureaucrats), and so the influence on value was bigger than the drop that occurred after the news story. In the days before this “event”, it was probably responsible for a drop of about $4500 in exchange value.
Listen up Wild Ducks! We have heard this before. On Sept 11, China announced the exact same thing. I wrote about it in the most popular article of my 7 years as Blogger: Bad News is Good News for Bitcoin Investors.
Continue reading “Say it again, Bitcoin Investors: ‘Bad News is Good News’” »
Jan 2, 2018
Why does anyone attribute value to Bitcoin?
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, internet
Oh, Cheez…We’re back to this question, again!
As a Bitcoin columnist, I get this question a lot. Today, an answer was requested at Quora.com, where I am the lead contributor on cryptocurrencies:
“Clearly, some people value Bitcoin. But How can
this be? There is nothing there to give it value!”
Many individuals, like the one who asked this question, suspect that Bitcoin was pulled out of thin air—and that it is not backed by gold, a government, or an authoritative redemption guaranty. After all, it is just open source code. What stops me from creating an ElleryCoin using the same code?!
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Nov 9, 2016
Edward Snowden will discuss Trump & privacy: Nov 10th
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: governance, government, internet, journalism, law enforcement, policy, privacy, security
Tune in tomorrow (Thursday, Nov 10, 2016) at 4:30PM Eastern. Find out what Edward Snowden has to say on the future of the US. [Source: StartPage via Engadget]
American technology policies could change significantly under Donald Trump, and that includes its stance on privacy. How will the new leader alter government surveillance, for example? Edward Snowden might have an answer. The whistleblower and Dutch search engine StartPage are hosting a live event on November 10th at 4:30PM Eastern to address what happens to privacy in the Trump era, among other questions. Snowden speaking engagements are nothing new, but this is special — he’s more than a little familiar with government spying activities, and this is his first chance to opine on how things might be different under a new administration.
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Jul 12, 2016
Why is Bitcoin Capped at 21M units?
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government, transparency
I was asked this at Quora.com, where I answer questions under the pen name, ‘Ellery’. But the query deserves a companion question, and so I approached the reply by answering two questions.
You might have asked “Why was Bitcoin designed to have a cap?” But, instead, you asked “Why is the cap set at 21 million bitcoins”. Let’s explore both questions starting with the choice of a circulation cap…
Why set the cap at 21 million BTC?
The choice of a cap number is arbitrary and in fact, it could be 1 or it could be 1 hundred trillion. It makes no difference at all and it has no effect on the economy—even if Bitcoin were to be adopted as a currency all over the world. If it were set to 1 BTC, we would simply discuss nano-BTC instead of 1 BTC for amounts of about $650.
May 7, 2016
Can Bitcoin be defeated by legislation?
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, business, cryptocurrencies, economics, encryption, geopolitics, government, internet, policy
The question breaks down into two parts:
- For what public benefit? —and—
- No, it cannot be achieved in this way
Governments are in the business of regulating certain activities—hopefully in an effort to serve the public good. In the case of business methods and activities, their goal is to maintain an orderly marketplace; one that is fair, safe and conducive to economic growth.
But regulation that lacks a clear purpose or a reasonable detection and enforcement mechanism is folly. Such regulation risks making government seem arbitrary, punitive or ineffective.
«— This is money. It is not a promissory note, a metaphor, an analogy or an abstract representation of money in some account. It is the money itself. Unlike your national currency, it does not require an underlying asset or redemption guarantee.
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Jan 14, 2016
Ex-NSA Boss Says FBI is wrong on Encryption
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: computing, encryption, government, privacy, security, software
Ex-NSA boss says FBI director is wrong on encryption
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Sep 12, 2015
Will Bitcoin End the Reign of Government?
Posted by Philip Raymond in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, government
When my daughter was just starting primary school, she would look inside a book for the pictures before reading the text. She was old enough to read without pictures, but she wanted to get a quick synopsis before diving in. “Look, Dad! a bunny is carrying a giant clock into a rabbit hole.”
This is my first article without pictures. At least none of Bitcoin, because the copper coin metaphors are tired and inaccurate. At the user level, owning bitcoin is simply your stake in a widely distributed ledger. Ownership exists only as strings of secret code and public code. There is no physical coin.
Since the only pictures in this post show a white rabbit with a big clock, let me give you the quick synopsis: The answer is “No”. Bitcoin will not end government, nor its ability to tax, spend—or even enforce compliance.
But there is an irony: Most lawmakers and regulators have not yet figured this out. They perceive a great threat to their national interests. That’s why Andreas M. Antonopoulos runs around the world. He briefs prime ministers, cabinets and legislators with the noble purpose of demystifying and de-boogieing Bitcoin.
Continue reading “Will Bitcoin End the Reign of Government?” »
