How Countries Could Try To Kill Bitcoin Adoption

That is an opinion editorial by Interstellar Bitcoin, a bitcoin pleb.

In a hypothetical world, think about we are attempting to cease Bitcoin. Why may we do it? How would we do it? What actions would we have to take? The place would this get us? To reply these questions, we first should speak about Bitcoin in a bit of extra depth.

“If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.” — Solar Tzu

Bitcoin is an idea. It’s know-how that gives property rights, rule of legislation, financial freedom, free markets and, finally, sound cash to the person.

Bitcoin is a set provide ledger, defining who owns what and enabling folks to transact peer-to-peer. Its ledger is enforced by proof-of-work, a consensus mechanism that makes use of vitality in a manner that removes inefficiencies and creates abundance.

Basically, Bitcoin is data and math, thus banning it would have wide implications.

We’ve outlined what Bitcoin is. So why ban it?

Management.

Management over the power to print cash and the ensuing Cantillon effect. Management over what vitality utilization is “morally acceptable” and what’s not, equivalent to through “ESG” (environmental, social and governance) mandates. Management over a populace. Total authoritarianism.

[embed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOh-7SzI6gM

We’ve bought some the explanation why somebody may ban Bitcoin, however how would they do it?

Stage One

Unfavorable tax standing for bitcoin.

Stage Two

Unfavorable regulation, ban using Bitcoin know-how (aka make math and data unlawful), web censorship.

Or: Promote centrally managed shitcoins that use proof-of-stake and banning proof-of-work. That is a substitute for attempt to subvert Bitcoin by selling software program that may be managed by insiders.

One other different: censoring Bitcoin blocks and community spamming. This can be a direct assault on the Bitcoin community that harms usability.

Stage Three

Vitality shortages, web outages, meals shortages.

Stage 4

Mass genocide of Bitcoiners.

Suppose It Can’t Occur?

Learn extra political theory and historical past. Leaders do no matter they should do to remain in energy. Don’t rule out vitality and meals shortages, both deliberately or brought on by fiat coverage mismanagement. Don’t rule out intentional focusing on of Bitcoiners.

You will need to keep in mind that Bitcoiners have deeply held beliefs, typically summarized as: Bitcoin is nice for humanity and cash must be exterior the management of the state. Bitcoin’s thought of a fixed-cap provide goes towards orthodox economics, political constructions and the established order.

Bitcoiners are burning the ships, and there’s no going again.

Bitcoiners are unwavering of their conviction for bitcoin

Solely El Salvador and the Central African Republic have made Bitcoin authorized tender. Most nations are already at Stage One: unfavorable tax legal guidelines.

Countries with favorable coverage towards bitcoin

9 nations, principally these which are most authoritarian, have superior to Stage Two with a partial or full bitcoin ban : Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Qatar and Tunisia.

Think about a world the place international G20 coordination fully banned bitcoin utilizing mass media to advertise propaganda towards it. Adoption would sluggish in a single day. Countries would promise “stability” and “security” if solely we’d implement one other measure or use their central financial institution digital forex (CBDC).

On the identical time, authorities may promote centrally managed proof-of-stake shitcoins to divide and conquer folks in “crypto” who additionally maintain bitcoin. For this reason it’s necessary to be bitcoin-only.

This might be paired with a direct assault on the Bitcoin community by block censorship and community spamming.

An instance of block censorship was when Marathon Digital Holdings mined an OFAC-compliant block in 2021. Marathon solely included transactions they deemed “clean” or “compliant,” ignoring different transactions at their very own financial expense (Marathon stopped their try and censor transactions only some months later).

Equally, in 2017, the community withstood ongoing spam assaults by mining swimming pools to flood the community with low-value spam transactions, driving up community charges to push their bigger block agenda.

Now think about a state actor — with successfully limitless cash — closely subsidizing bitcoin miners who’re compliant and spamming the community. This might hurt bitcoin’s fungibility and value as cash.

Bitcoin’s 2017 excessive price market was primarily pushed by mining swimming pools with an agenda of bigger blocks.

However, recreation idea is on Bitcoin’s facet. Finally, state actors will face growing issues to subsidize censorship and spam the community. Assuming attackers should print cash to fund the assault, this devalues their forex towards bitcoin. It’s a short-term assault that would solely be efficient if paired with a ban, propaganda and different measures.

The community will stay usable. Individuals are prepared to pay greater charges. There’ll at all times be miners who’re economically incentivized to incorporate any transaction.

If this didn’t assault didn’t work, nations may then attempt creating additional uncertainty with energy shortages, web outages and meals shortages — Stage Three.

That is already occurring within the fiat world as a consequence of horrible fiat insurance policies.

Taken to the acute, some nations with the best propaganda may even begin rounding up Bitcoiners — Stage 4. The federal government wouldn’t even have to do something; residents would do it for them out of worry.

To some extent, the labeling of Bitcoiners is occurring already with overly burdensome know-your-customer (KYC) insurance policies. Regulated monetary establishments are required by legislation to maintain an in depth listing of private and monetary data (title, tackle, age, transaction quantity, bitcoin addresses, and so on.). This listing would make it trivial for the state to search out everybody who has ever traded, owned or used bitcoin through a centralized alternate.

Lastly, absolutely the worst possibility: government-sanctioned killing (aka democide). This, and the lesser excessive of compelled imprisonment, can and does occur in history. A hypothetical democide of Bitcoiners would trigger irrevocable harm to humanity and finally bitcoin adoption.

Fortunately, bitcoin is data, with no bodily location. In every single place and nowhere.

This poses a novel problem for banning bitcoin: geographic arbitrage.

As nations crack down on bitcoin, the motivation for different nations to undertake bitcoin as authorized tender grows.

El Salvador Nationwide Newspaper Asserting Bitcoin as Authorized Tender. The headline is embedded in block 686604 for eternity.

“The plan is simple: as the world falls into tyranny, we’ll create a haven for freedom.” — Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador

This can be a good instance of recreation idea.

Two nations banning bitcoin causes important hurt to each.

Two nations letting bitcoin exist causes each economies to thrive.

One nation defecting and banning bitcoin whereas the opposite does nothing, harms just one nation.

The distinctive Nash equilibrium in pure methods is down, proper (No ban, No ban).

(Picture/Interstellar Bitcoin)

What does this imply? Bitcoiners have an obligation to withstand immoral and unjust legal guidelines. This may require civil disobedience and/or getting into into politics to make sure we win. The subsequent greatest different is retreating to bitcoin-friendly geographies like El Salvador.

Bitcoiners — and all folks — have an obligation to withstand immoral and unjust legal guidelines.

The query folks fascinated by banning bitcoin have to ask themselves is: are they prepared to completely imprison and kill to do it? The one method to cease an thought is to bodily cease the individuals who maintain an thought. Think about George Orwell’s 1984 idea of doublethink.

It’s as much as the folks to determine which path they are going to select: freedom or tyranny.

All it takes is just a few folks to decide out with bitcoin.

So, how will we defend towards these assaults?

Shill to as many individuals as potential; the extra folks that maintain bitcoin, the higher.Educate the significance of self-custody and working your individual full node. There are nice sources by Bitcoin Journal and plenty of others.Help bitcoin-only people, companies and nations.Enhance the underlying community and scaling applied sciences. For instance, BIP324 (a bitcoin improvement proposal for P2P encryption) and Layer 2s such because the Lightning Community.Construct resilient communities and round bitcoin economies.Turn into a Bitcoiner who’s a beacon of hope in an abyss of darkness.

(Source)

In conclusion, it’s potential to maim bitcoin adoption quickly, however at a punishing price: fascism on a large scale, not seen since WW2.

The important thing phrase right here is “adoption.” It’s inconceivable to kill the Bitcoin community, an thought of unstoppable sound cash.

(Source)

This text was based mostly on a Twitter thread.

This can be a visitor submit by Interstellar Bitcoin. Opinions expressed are solely their very own and don’t essentially replicate these of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Journal.

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