Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Rubberband Man on July 03, 2011, 05:34 pm
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What would the impact be on the Silk Road?
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It would likely shut down, because it would be extremely hard to find someone to do BTC exchanges.
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Depend what illegal mean to you and where you live. This is internet - global thing and not one country issue.Difficult to control and anyway, digital currency have no potential become illegal. With what grounds? Because its used in purchasing drugs? With that argument they could make $ illegal as well.
Digital commodity exist and have a price tag.
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Just because they make something illegal doesn't mean that it won't still be used.....case in point....just about everything on SR...
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We don't care about legal, only functional. If bitcoin remains sound, SR will adjust. Most likely a TOR network exchange will need to open.
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It would likely shut down, because it would be extremely hard to find someone to do BTC exchanges.
I've read some articles and the general consensus is that when (not if) Bitcoin becomes illegal that there's no way it can sustain itself. I was thinking the same thing you mentioned in that how would you be able to withdraw the money. I'm just hoping that someone with more knowledge than me on how financial transactions work can make a convincing argument that either A) There will be blackmarket organizations that will convert Bitcoins into cash and cash into Bitcoins (with maybe some other intermediaries involved, idk I never purchased bitcoins) or B) There will be some holdouts of countries that do not bend to international pressure to ban the currency.
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Although that doesn't really show how it would get shut down, as long as there are countries that don't (and there will be some) then there will always be exchanges, look at the pirate bay, they still haven't gotten rid of it, or bittorrent. Besides what legal standing do they have to shut it down?
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Yep: internet, and btc in particular show the future is getting away from statism...and that freaks a lot of people out...but exactly *where* would you make it illegal, and also, try explaining to the public just exactly what it is you are *making* illegal.
"Well Mrs. Brown, bitcoins are a bunch of electrons...no, they are, uh...." I think everybody who hasn't already should start plowing thru 'the baroque cycle' by neal stephenson...I was almost through with that huge fucker before I realize *it* was kind of about money: what it is, how it comes about, and who gets to decide it....
Eventually, one of us will get cracked, and I'd love to see a serious court case where they try to go up against bitcoins, or even some country tries to make them illegal...this genie's out of the bottle...freedom is popping out in all kinds of weird ways, just like the fall of the berlin wall, or libyans and iranians hitting the streets...btc is a bit of freedom for drug users...my body, my life...gov'ts need to leave us the fuck alone...