This is bad for bitcoin. Very bad.
It shows that the US goverment is fed up with virtual currencies that can be used for money laundering. And bitcoin is even MORE anonymous than LR was.
I think this is a bad sign and bitcoin is in trouble.
Look at the trend:
- US govt freezes dwolla account of MtGox
- LR shut down by US govt
- OKPay announces it will stop working with bitcoin (US govt involved??)
That's three less ways you can exchange US dollars for bitcoin.
What comes next?
- US stops international bank wires to bitcoin exchanges
- US shuts down campbx and bitinstant
- US cracks down on local bitcoin sales through localbitcoins
- US companies are banned from accepting bitcoin as payment
Bitcoin crashes and goes away.
It shows that the US goverment is fed up with virtual currencies that can be used for money laundering. And bitcoin is even MORE anonymous than LR was.
I think this is a bad sign and bitcoin is in trouble.
Look at the trend:
- US govt freezes dwolla account of MtGox
- LR shut down by US govt
- OKPay announces it will stop working with bitcoin (US govt involved??)
That's three less ways you can exchange US dollars for bitcoin.
What comes next?
- US stops international bank wires to bitcoin exchanges
- US shuts down campbx and bitinstant
- US cracks down on local bitcoin sales through localbitcoins
- US companies are banned from accepting bitcoin as payment
Bitcoin crashes and goes away.
I see what you are doing, want cheap coins right?
I wouldn't say so. The remarks mgio makes are genuine concerns for the future of Bitcoin. (Well, i.e. a future in which it might be widely used by the general public, instead of being used by just the geeky early adopters. A very dim future is also a future, you might say, but I think we'd all prefer a really bright future for BTC).
Should recent developments be all part of a bigger scheme, then you'd better not be "stuck" with your bitcoins. [Yeah, start bashing me now
] Worst case I'm afraid one day we'll wake up, noticing that the Japanese have shut down MtGox's bank accounts alltogether - this being just a "friendly gesture" towards their US counterparts in Government. They simply wouldn't care a bit.Not seeing the risks that are mounting indeed, is not being wise IMHO.