If you’ve been around for a while, you’ve probably heard the whole ‘Bitcoin is gonna be banned’ story since it was cheaper than your lunch.
Seriously, people keep saying the ban is just around the corner.
Let me break it down on why that never really happens.
China banned Bitcoin way back in 2013, then again in 2017, and once more in 2021. I mean, they went all out with a full ban. No mining, no trading, nada.
But here we are, and China is still one of the largest players in the mining game. Just not out in the open.
You can shut down an exchange, but you can’t really ban a number. Who would’ve guessed?
Then there’s Nigeria, which cut crypto from its banks in 2021. What happened? P2P trading went through the roof. Nigeria ended up being one of the countries with the highest crypto adoption rates.
India kept threatening a ban for five years straight, and then just slapped a 30% tax on it.
You don’t tax something you plan to kill.
You tax what you’re okay with keeping around.
Now, let’s think about something nobody wants to discuss openly.
Where does a minister in a war zone stash his bribes?
Cash?
That’s hidden in safes, and safes are in buildings. And buildings can be taken out by missiles.
A bank account? Good luck with that. Frozen the moment someone in Brussels throws his name on a form.
Real estate?
There’s a public registry for that. His name is right there. Journalists have a knack for digging that stuff up.
Gold?
Try walking around with 40 kg of it through a checkpoint.
A seed phrase though? That’s a whole different story. It travels wherever you go, right there in your head.
No scanner can detect it. No sanctions can freeze it. No missile can target it. No government can seize it.
The ministers, generals, and the well-connected kids of every sanctioned or failing state figured this out ages ago.
You think they’re gonna ban their own safety net?
Iran is even licensing Bitcoin mining to hawk energy that the banks won’t touch.
Russia is getting in on it too, legalizing mining in 2024.
It's funny how bitcoin is making the government of some countries look stupid. They make a bold statement and still return to their vomit. They make laws against bitcoin and they break it to re-make another. They keep going bac and forth. But the good news is that bitcoin cannot be banned. According to you, they ban you from using it.
If the government of my country turns to be bitcoin toxic antagonist in the future, I'll just consider to relocate, just like China miners did in 2021.
I think that only in the early days was such an argument reasonable and maybe if they had understood the danger that the Bitcoin alternative poses to the system on time we would have seen an alternative path with attempts to fully ban it when it was more vulnerable. In this way we can maybe even see that the dismissive statements about Bitcoin in the early days from the media and many famous individuals kept the system in the dark about it. Not that they didn't know about it, but they completely underestimated it and also dismissed it. This maybe helped us avoid some more direct actions against Bitcoin in the early days.
Cash is horrible for large value, because the maximum denomination bills have been around for a long time and their value has been decreasing rapidly. A $100 bill in the year 2000 is something completely different compared to a dollar bill in the year 2026, this can also be a way how they are sabotaging cash as an alternative.
Amazing description, I wish that more people understood this.
Governments ban Bitcoin, crack down Bitcoin mining, prohibit Bitcoin trading, ... many news like this appeared in Bitcoin history and the fact is Bitcoin has kept rolling and becoming stronger with time.
Only some of Government-related FUDs in history.
https://endthefud.org/governments
Critique: Government will shut Bitcoin down.
Every year we hear news about a different country banning Bitcoin. This has become routine news.
Decision-makers make laws for their own interests, not for the public good. If there's a ban, there's usually an interest group that benefits from it. Some countries even change the rules in ways that let oligarchs profit both when they ban and unban Bitcoin.
You take governments too seriously. At the end of the day they're just a handful of interest groups looking out for themselves. They don't really care about the people.
Amazingly, every time governments increase the pressure and try to ban or even eliminate Bitcoin, it rises from the ashes like a phoenix, so to speak. Indeed, Bitcoin has proven that it cannot be banned or defeated.
Governments have come to know this and know that they cannot ban or kill Bitcoin, so they have resorted to a malicious trick, trying to circumvent and contain it through third-party services and KYC and AML regulations.
Governments are smart enough to know that they can earn a lot of money from citizens by allowing blockchain industry, cryptocurrency market develop and operate legally. They legalize these things and tax their citizens, it's how they can earn money very easily from this industry.
They also are smart enough to know that Bitcoin is a core cryptocurrency in this industry, so if they ban Bitcoin, they will kill this industry, and that means they self damage their chances of getting money from this industry.
KYC, AML, more regulations, higher tax will be what governments do in the future, but they will not ban Bitcoin.
They cannot ban bitcoin because it is decentralized and censorship resistant. Not to mention global not local. If one government in one country bans it, the rest of the world won't so that ban will affect absolutely nothing. This is why it cannot be banned not because they want to use it themselves.
In fact I don't think they do. They see things differently, they want to have that full control. This is why they still go with things like gold and real estate. In your "war zone" example, just wait until things fall apart more in places like Ukraine and you'll see where they run off to and where their "real estates" are located. Hint it is not nearby to be hit by a missile.
Correction: Iran regulated mining to be able to manage their electricity consumption (we are talking about dirt cheap $0.001/KWH here) and try to stabilize the network and manage the shortage.
Here is another scarier way of looking at it: they don't ban it if it benefits them (the scam token pedophile POTUS created and sold) and they will not hesitate to ban it if it also benefits them.
Just think about it... what if they wanted to push something they fully controlled (eg. PedoCoin!) and saw the decentralized Bitcoin in their way? And then suddenly got the moronic idea that banning bitcoin would benefit their shitcoin?
They'll bring down the ban-hammer so quickly we won't be able to start a topic about it here
Governments can not ban Bitcoin that is decentralized and censorship resistant like you said.
Can government ban Bitcoin?
Bitcoin can not be banned.
Bitcoin can not be banned (2).
If they failed to censor Bitcoin transactions, how will they be able to ban Bitcoin?
Bitcoin mining pool observer. They failed with that attempt with MARA mining pool.
Any attempt to ban Bitcoin has always been resulted in the country getting left behind in the crypto industry and emerge of underground market instead.
I'm expecting these government to think out of the box and facilitate the use of Bitcoin instead of banning it because clearly whatever they are doing doesn't really work.
China bans Bitcoin, now chinese people are creating their business offshore, that's a tax loss from the government side.
But for taxation, a legislative basis needs to be prepared, and that is why these frightening tales about the ban were told.
Maybe that's enough, huh? Bitcoin is already being accused of every mortal sin, and yet you continue to demonize it.
The only thing that can destroy is amnesia.
The laws "work" differently for them and it is not difficult for them to prohibit things for the general public.
For it is impossible to prohibit something over which they have no control or power.
Not "absolutely nothing" imo. Bitcoin isn't going to be banned worldwide, of course, but peoples in a banned country can still have serious problems. Fiat ramps get worsen, banks refuse payments, exchanges shut, and regular users face issues when buying and selling.
So yes, while Bitcoin itself continues to function, users access and liquidity may be extremely restricted there. Users can still use VPNs and P2P, but it's not the same as before. The ban is a very real one for users in that country. Not to mention the possibility of being arrested, gossiped by neighbours, and what not...
You are correct that the citizens of such countries would be affected if Bitcoin is banned. But I guess "absolutely nothing" in this context means that it wouldn't have so much effect on the global use of Bitcoin. China's negative stance on Bitcoin has not stopped the adoption and growth of the industry. People in affected countries also have the option of relocating to a friendly country if they have the means.
A sitting president made $635m in royalties from a business that impoverished most of those who invested. If Trump were a member of this forum, many investors of his coin would have opened threads on the scam accusation board.
Is there a story on how someone moves from one country to another because their government ban crypto? Most of the time they're moving due to stability issues and whatnot. It's hard for me to imagine someone moving to another country just because they can't liquidate their campaign earnings, for example. Maybe we're talking about two different extremes anyway, so we should find the middle ground. What does it take for someone to seriously consider moving abroad in regards to crypto status (excluding other factors like horrible safety, corrupt government, etc).
I think that the countries that are banning crypto are kind of stupid because if they legalize bitcoin and set a tax then the people of that country will have to pay some percentage of the tax to the government. But when country banned crypto people uses them without giving any kind of tax. There are still many countries I think they should legalize crypto very quickly.
Many excuses are given that people launder money through crypto which is why if it is legalized there are many problems on the other hand people launder money through crypto and other means while it is illegal but if it is legalized there will be many teams made by government which will be able to monitor crypto transactions and exchanges.
China! It's always china who takes the lead when it comes to banning Bitcoin and those bans are foul as they only work on people of china not Bitcoin itself, there is no ban in the world that can stop Bitcoin but humans only.
Nice topic you have here OP, no ban has ever work on Bitcoin network, freezing it not to transact anymore with the Blockchain, there was a time that Bitcoin was banned in my country but people are still sending and receiving Bitcoin.
That was when I knew that Bitcoin is unstoppable, the power the government has is on its people not on Bitcoin itself.
There are many reasons why China was used for news, FUD like this in past years.
Because in the past, Bitcoin block subsidies were bigger than now, and Bitcoin mining industry mostly concentrated in China mainland. These things changed with Bitcoin halvings, now most of bitcoins in total supply were mined already, while Bitcoin mining hashrate became more decentralized to other nations, not mainly operated in China mainland.
The last time there was big effects from China is China mining crackdown years ago, after that there was a mass mining migration to neighborhood nations around China and other countries globally like the USA.
https://fortune.com/2021/07/17/bitcoin-mining-profits-china-crackdown-on-crypto-bitfarms-carbon-footprint/
Bitcoin is still consider as a property in China, so you probably get tax too if you sell but there is restrictions to things you can do with Bitcoin. If I have all my life on Bitcoin, like other people that were fortunate to have bought Bitcoin below $1000 and I decided to sell, I'm leaving that country to a place where I can enjoy my wealth without government restrictions because what is wealth when you can't liquidate your investment without any fear of the government.
If you look at it, sometimes even the president doesn't have problem with Bitcoin, it's some few silly and hateful people around the government that do push for Bitcoin banned. This is why it's good to vote good people to power, people that are intellectually incline, not some old men that knows nothing than basic supply and demand.
I think China has a turn around on their proposition to ban Bitcoin because I think they are the second-largest state holder of Bitcoin on the planet of which the U.S and others might just be a number above on the list.
https://www.webopedia.com/crypto/learn/countries-bitcoin-reserve/?hl=en-US#
So many countries own Bitcoin reserves right now and am sure the one that has more Bitcoin has more control in their own capacity and that makes Bitcoin ownership much for the brains that understand decentralization rather than trust centralized exchange systems with their funds.
Many of these countries claiming to ban Bitcoin also accept it when it used to pay for taxes and remittances also and this is fascinating because they acknowledge it but don't do so openly.
I have a theory that some governments try to ban Bitcoin to affect how some people view its legitimacy. There are some sitting on the fence who will look at some of the negative news and stay away from it. It cannot work for long however and those who it works on may have never bought in at all.
Bitcoin has made people realize that the governments can only control what is within their control.
- Jay -