Using capital — political or otherwise — to get people to support a federal government “reserve” of
Bitcoin (based on money stolen from people) is not effective policy activism for freedom tech.
It’s virtue signaling, harmful to individual and economic liberty, and creates a forever-bad incentive that temporarily pumps bags while sacrificing separation of money and state.
it's simply happening
USG has 200k bitcoins
china gov has 200k bitcoins
russia has now decriminalized bitcoin payments for international payments for businesses, and i can bet they are gonna be stackin too
it is very bullish in the long run for bitcoin because governments are incentivised to maintain this as a balance against their enemies because of it's nuclear-like MAD property if one dumps then their currency can be crashed easier
just look at the bitcoin price in nigerian naira from last year, for example
extrapolate this to the whole world and you see that bitcoin becomes a VERY strong countermeasure against central banks and profligate bond issuance
I see that point and feel more conflicted on this one. Considering at the end of the day…I think it’s going to happen anyway.
Also, I like the self-custody part of the bill (I mean it’s obviously already lawful but nice to see)
And bitcoin is still money separate from the state, even if the state buys a shit ton. It doesn’t print or control the production or manipulation of bitcoin. It can run a node or miner just like the rest of us to get a “say.”
Good points.
More broadly, my greater fear is that such a “reserve” would enable and advance civil forfeiture of bitcoin at an unprecedented rate, as there would be programs and policies in place to more adequately “HODL” these assets, even when police actions may have nothing to do with bitcoin.
Civil forfeiture is a civil justice issue that hasn’t yet been addressed meaningfully in any state or federal legislation, and will only ramp up if agents and police know that Bitcoin is now fair game.
At the same time, I can absolutely see the usefulness of a government or central bank adding BTC to their portfolio, but this would only empower the federal gov’t with more power than I believe they should have (obviously spoken as a classical liberal).
I could also see KYC/AML laws being ramped up as a “responsible” measure for more inclusion of BTC into the financial system, which I believe would be harmful to many people across all layers of society.
