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We Will Regulate Bitcoin if Risks Are Not Tackled, EU Finance Head Says (theguardian.com)
The European Union has warned that it will regulate cryptocurrencies if the risks exposed by the meteoric rise of bitcoin and its ilk are not addressed. The Guardian: The boom and bust of cryptocurrencies has seen some investors make millions where others have suffered heavy losses. Bitcoin, which now trades around $9,000 a token but recently dropped to less than $6,000, leads the pack rising nearly 2,000% to just under $20,000 in 2017, fuelling a global investment craze. "This is a global phenomenon and it's important there is an international follow-up at the global level," Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's financial chief, said on Monday. "We do not exclude the possibility to move ahead (by regulating cryptocurrencies) at the EU level if we see, for example, risks emerging but no clear international response emerging."
Cryptocurrencies are fundamentally different from other investments, in that they are the only kind where unexpected market twists and turns lead to winners and losers.
It was a joke! When you give me that look it was a joke.
Oh, the benevolent and omniscient regulators, who know all about the matter (and would've made lots of money had they bothered with such base things), will condescend to keeping their subjects from injuring themselves.
For the subjects' own good, of course...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Look if frequent thefts of uninsured capital occur in a market, the attractiveness of that market is going to diminish.
The downfall of BTC is going to be that many people aren't sure if they can trust their wallets or the exchanges. These problems have little to do with the technology and trumps any advantages that cryptocurrency might offer an investor or consumer.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
... *quite* understand how a distributed cryptocurrency system works. The whole point of it is that it CAN'T be centrally regulated. Beaurocrats and politicians should really attempt to educate themselves about a subject before pontificating about it.
also high fees and long transaction times
Treat the coins as counterfeit and as electricity theft that slows down computers and damages the environment.
There are many kinds of regulation. It could be as simple as forcing sellers to educate buyers on the risks associated with Bitcoin; controls on advertising; placing limits on "transaction fees", etc. None of that has anything to do with how cryptocurrency works, just how it's sold.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
They're trying to get as much regulating in as possible before their evil organization unravels.
Three cheers for Brexit!
The European Union has warned that it will regulate cryptocurrencies if the risks exposed by the meteoric rise of bitcoin and its ilk are not addressed.
Translation: We will regulated cryptocurrencies since there is no one else in a position to address the risks involved even if they wanted to.
Seriously folks, cryptocurrencies are a criminal's wet dream. Anyone expecting governments to sit on the sidelines and do nothing to regulate them is delusional.
will condescend to keeping their subjects from injuring themselves.
Actually yes you can turn off the sarcasm machine. We DO need regulation surrounding cryptocurrencies to protect people. We do have laws and police and regulations for very good reasons. Many of those reasons are to protect those who aren't able to protect themselves both from financial predators and sometimes from themselves. Why? Because A) it's the right thing to do morally and B) nobody exists in a financial vacuum so one person's bad decisions tends to affect others. Are you seriously arguing that we should have no regulations of financial systems? Or are you one of the more foolish varieties of libertarian who suffers from the delusion that unfettered capitalism with no rules is somehow a good thing?
Serious question; how do they plan on regulating it?
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Look if frequent thefts of uninsured capital occur in a market, the attractiveness of that market is going to diminish.
Not until a lot of people endure a lot of unnecessary losses. Markets don't solve every problem and they especially don't solve unchecked greed. We have financial regulations for good reasons. Many of those reasons are to prevent people from being defrauded. It's cheaper to society to prevent a crime than to wait for a market to adapt which might take years if it happens at all.
The downfall of BTC is going to be that many people aren't sure if they can trust their wallets or the exchanges.
That's not the only problem with it though it is a big one. What's really going to kill it however is the high risk adjusted transaction costs. If bitcoin were actually cheaper than say the dollar on a risk adjusted basis, that fact alone would make it hard to stop. But in reality bitcoin is rather expensive and relatively complicated to use. (good luck explaining a bitcoin wallet to your grandmother) The biggest problem bitcoin has is that it is expensive compared to competing currencies for transactions.
Enough said.
"We can call spirits from the vasty deep."
"So can I. So can any man. But will they answer when you call?"
Doesn't have to be centrally regulated.
Crypto currencies potentially threaten tax revenue, and allow easy transfer of money.
They want their cut, and they want their control.
If they catch a person, they'll just bust them like they would if you get found with a suitcase of cash.
Unless you can prove it was legitimately aquired, they seize it or jail you.
That's the whole point behind using civil asset forfeiture instead of criminal charges.
We coincidentally happen to agree to the use of legal tender for purposes of exchange because we generally agree its value to ourselves. How can you regulate other mechanisms that have any perceived value without also trying to regulate something as basic as haggling or barter, however? For any private transaction, two parties can agree to whatever exchange is amenable to both of them.
How the fucking hell do they expect to regulate bitcoin if they can't also simultaneously regulate what people are and are not allowed to accept in exchange for goods or services? Would Frank be legally prohibited from mowing Joe's lawn in exchange for letting Frank use Joe's washing machine once per week, for instance?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Yes, we shouldn't let people have any freedom of any sort, as they might make the wrong decision.
I for one embrace our benevolent dictators, as they have only my best interests at heart.
To quote CS Lewis
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good
of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live
under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may
at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good
will torment us without end for they do so with the approval
of their own conscience."
Or phrased a bit more clearly
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"
Oppressive rulers are a problem, unfortunately it seems people don't why freedom is important.
Most crypto currencies are developed by anonymous volunteers. They aren't going to fill out any regulatory paper work. If Monero doesn't bother obeying a regulation what are the regulators going to do?
Oh, you don't mean the currencies, you mean the exchanges. Well many currencies now allow swaps between currencies, so exchanges aren't always needed.
Oh, but we will regulate when the money moves between fiat and crypto. Yeah, because the regulators have had so much success regulation money going to off shore tax havens and numbered anonymous companies. Also in the future I might buy a portion of my yearly spending in crypto currencies and not even need fiat currency.
The volatility of crypto currencies is part of their appeal.
Why ruin it? No fun allowed?
"We Don't Really Understand Bitcoin", EU Finance Head Says
is going to need all the tax revenue they can get to provide housing and benefits for them.
In order to make sure that retail investors do not fall prey to market manipulation and fraud
Between the manipulation, fraud and the government's incessant need to continually probe my financial orifices, I'll take the fraud. Thanks anyway.
Why not just let the market decide? Yeah, Bitcoin is risky. But you bastards are snoopy.
Have gnu, will travel.
The same body that sees the problem with 500-Euro notes doesn't see any other problem with cryptocurrencies?
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
they start telling everyone what to do with their own bits.
Bitcoin has the Bitcoin Network behind it. Without it, "one bitcoin" is just an entry in a database. With it, you can transfer value around the world at relatively low cost and relatively high speed. This is a useful service, and it is backed by real hardware and software. The same logic applies to other cryptocurrencies. To the extent they are *useful* they have value, just like FedEx and electric utilities are useful services.
Crypto currencies like Bitcoin are going to be killed off pretty quick if there is any sort of successful regulation only to be replaced with ones that are mathematically and provably anonymous. There were very few people who paid capital gains last year on Bitcoin. Good luck regulating it. In fact you should start targeting New Hampshire because it's where all the ethical minded people are going. That is those who *DO NOT BELIEVE IN SLAVERY*. You nut job socialists insist on forcing others to do work so you don't have to. If you want to be charitable go be charitable and stop *STEALING* from others. Your fucking retarded and can't understand basic fucking moral concepts or behavior- you know-like not *STEALING* what is not yours.
The entire reason bitcoin even exists is to keep government mits off of them.
You try to regulate bitcoin, and everyone "in the know" will switch to something else.
Every. Single. Time.
They'll be able to jump from one type to another twice as fast as the EU can try to regulate them.
The EU can only attempt to regulate those who live within the EU due to the decentralized network that was designed specifically to make regulation next to impossible.
Ohhhh, the awesome market power and management capacity of the "Bitcoin Network". Why that's almost as good as the As Seen On TV folks!
Bitcoin Network, brought to you by the same people who sold the Sham Wow and the Pocket Fisherman!
If the Bitcoin Network is all you got for backing, then you got nuthin' backing you.
The EU already has low tax compliance rates, and if you think you can regulate cryptocurrencies, you are stupid as a rock, Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis. But, then, that's the level of intelligence we expect from EU bureaucrats.
If the price were stable and flat for long periods of time then they would only buy it if it paid back dividends. But cryptocurrencies are not stocks, and they don't "make" money like a company does, so they can not pay any dividends. Consequently all the investors holding it want it to go up and those that are not holding it want it to go down. No "investor" wants the price to simply stand still. So, by opening it up to speculation the market is doing exactly what the "Financial market" system wants it to do.
Its just that what it is doing is not necessarily what most people want it to do, like be used for buying and selling tangible real world things, where the price does not change while you are in the process of purchasing something with it.
Now, I can't say I'm an expert in European affairs. I'm not even an expert in finance. However, if people actually expect zero risk investments, I suspect that they will be disappointed. Of course, precious metals might be a good investment choice. But I imagine that those are already overly regulated too. What a world!