Quote from: lemonginger on June 06, 2011, 09:10:39 PM

What exactly would the benefits of a regulated bitcoin currency be?

I would argue not only on one practical issue (who's gonna do the regulating as mentioned) but on another as well -- grey/black markets would provide much more early influx into the currency that getting other vendors to, who really don't have a REASON to swtich (or at least not one that they are convinced of yet).

Right now, the people motivated for BTC to suceed other than ideologically driven early adopters are people facilitating quasi-legal or illegal market transactions. You may not like that. You make think it looks bad. But it actually has the potential to be a very strong "force for good" within the bitcoin economy -- both in terms of encouraging stronger security and actively seeking out potential flaws and by providing lots of cash flowing in that is being used for actual transactions

I am going to alienate every user on these forums with this next bit, but a regulated bitcoin currency would be uncounterfeitable, easily and safely stored, taxable within the regulating economy for the support of beneficial governmental services, all without needing a single bank getting involved at any point. The banking industry and the united states federal government may be inextricably tangled by now, in which case this situation is impossible. Bitcoin represents a tremendous threat to the banking industry, and under proper regulation no threat to governmental authorities. Totally unregulated, Bitcoin is a threat to both parties, and there is no doubt in my mind that the two of them can and will cause a doomsday scenario in the US and other tight-fisted plutocratic countries.

As for the userbase statement, I'll bet you 5 BTC that if a poll were made in the general bitcoin forums about the motives driving individual interest in the bitcoin movement, the individuals interested in Bitcoins for black transactions would be outnumbered by the users interested in Bitcoins for either personal profit or ideological reasons by at least 3 to 1. This thread sees a tremendous disparity of idealogy in favor of the black market simply because it is a thread about the black market Bitcoin economy, which uninterested parties aren't even going to take the time to read, much less post in.