I’m no longer interested in this discussion.
No. Even if it is just a confidence game, nobody is being forced to participate in it; if they do so it is their own responsibility. I want fewer laws, and none that deprive people of agency in the name of protecting them from themselves.
I’m actually surprised that it isn’t already illegal. I’m not really interested in cryptocurrency one way or another. But I am pleased that people can still circumvent governments like that.
Tons of people have used crypto to purchase common goods.
You know what other currency is untraceable and has “anonymity”?
Paper money.
Its nice to have options for two people to exchange for goods and services.
It would be dystopian for the government to force a single currency and be able to instantly track any purchase.
Though I do agree you should need to pay taxes on it.
I don’t think there’s any reason to outlaw cryptocurrency (especially because that’d be very hard to do), but I do think it’s really just not a good thing. It’s bad for the environment, and it hasn’t showed any promise as a practical form of currency. It’s basically a novelty that’s treated as an “investment” despite no actual functional product at the end of it (ergo: a bubble, or a Ponzi scheme). I don’t doubt that a lot of people have good intentions for it, but I feel like it just doesn’t work, and has been running roughshod over the price of computers and producing absurd amounts of carbon emissions. I think a lot of the people who try to puff it up as the future are people who have a lot of money in it and don’t want it to collapse on them and leave them with nothing.