Quote from: philipma1957 on January 16, 2024, 01:25:57 PM

Of course, they will gain full control over BTC. I give it under 32 years.

But I have often been wrong.

What type of control would they want to gain? It might be beneficial to examine gold's history, as both BTC and gold share some economic attributes. Gold has always been legal to mine and own, but there was a time when it was illegal to own and mine BTC. Then, buying gold became legal, while mining was restricted and heavily regulated.

While I haven't worked for any government or held a position of high authority, I can make a safe guess about what most governments have in common:

-They want to monitor your every move, including everything related to money.
-They aim to keep you as busy as possible, making life difficult and ensuring you stay at work or in transit for as long as possible, essentially keeping you financially restrained.
-They seek to increase the labor force, possibly pushing for more people to work. This could explain certain societal shifts(feminism and shit), and the emphasis on everyone working, even at a young age.

So, how does BTC impact any of that? BTC doesn't make everyone rich; it's only a handful of early adopters who were fortunate to accumulate BTC at a low cost. The number of people who would become wealthy from simply investing in BTC won't be large enough to disrupt any government. Therefore, BTC is unlikely to significantly impact points two and three above.

Is BTC private? No, it's not. Governments understand that, and the public ledger is a valuable asset for them. What they fear is the use of privacy tools that make tracking more expensive and potentially impossible. Hence, efforts to take down privacy enhancement tools and potential future requirements for users to KYC outside of exchanges, possibly even for wallet usage, all wallets need to impose KYC or be deemed illegal.

When that time comes, what do governments expect from their citizens, or what should we expect? The majority of people will comply because they are in BTC for wealth, have no issue with KYC, and are willing to share information with the government if required. The minority valuing privacy will be treated as outlaws and potentially terrorists.

It will become a matter of who gives up first. I recall a childhood memory when people woke up to a new law declaring firearms illegal. They had 7 days to turn in their guns or face serious consequences. Most complied, standing in line to surrender their firearms while expressing frustration at the government's decision Cheesy

. However, a minority held onto their weapons unlawfully for 15 years. The government eventually changed the laws, requiring a firearms permit or an offer to buy those firearms at a premium. Buying guns remained illegal for citizens, but those who didn't hand in their weapons 15 years ago were not pursued unless a gun was found under their car seat for example. Laws changed, but people are still the same, the strong ones still have their weapons at home and the government can't do shit about it, or they have sold them to the government at a very high price (I recall they paid a few years worth of average salary for small arms like pistols), the weak gained nothing and probably most of them are already dead shaming themselves under the dust.

Governments have deep pockets and long reach, but they don't possess God's power. If they decide something, it doesn't necessarily mean it must happen. Sometimes, a small group of brave citizens can bring down an entire regime. Bitcoin might face a similar fate; the weak will comply, and the strong will resist until they end up in jail or forcefully secure their right to privacy and anonymity, so ya, it's going to be a long interesting journey for everybody onboard.