Idiot Tea Party Republican senator proposing ban on Bitcoins
 

MANCHIN DEMANDS FEDERAL REGULATORS BAN BITCOIN

Washington, D.C. ? Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sent a letter to federal regulators seeking a ban on Bitcoin, the virtual currency that is unregulated and unstable, and has been used in illicit activity, including drug trafficking and money laundering. Senator Manchin expressed concerns about the negative effect Bitcoin could have on America?s economy if this crypto-currency remains unregulated. The letter was sent to Secretary Lew, Chairwoman Yellen, Commissioner Curry, Acting Chairman Wetjen, Chairman Gruenberg, and Chairwoman White.

Please read the full text of Senator Manchin?s letter below.

Dear Secretary Lew, Chairwoman Yellen, Commissioner Curry, Acting Chairman Wetjen, Chairman Gruenberg, Chairwoman White:

I write today to express my concerns about Bitcoin. This virtual currency is currently unregulated and has allowed users to participate in illicit activity, while also being highly unstable and disruptive to our economy. For the reasons outlined below, I urge regulators to take appropriate action to limit the abilities of this highly unstable currency.

By way of background, Bitcoin is a crypto-currency that has gained notoriety in recent months due to its rising exchange value and relation to illegal transactions. Each Bitcoin is defined by a public address and a private key, thus Bitcoin is not only a token of value but also a method for transferring that value. It also means that Bitcoin provides a unique digital fingerprint, which allows for anonymous and irreversible transactions.

The very features that make Bitcoin attractive to some also attract criminals who are able to disguise their actions from law enforcement. Due to Bitcoin?s anonymity, the virtual market has been extremely susceptible to hackers and scam artists stealing millions from Bitcoins users. Anonymity combined with Bitcoin?s ability to finalize transactions quickly, makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse fraudulent transactions.

Bitcoin has also become a haven for individuals to buy black market items. Individuals are able to anonymously purchase items such as drugs and weapons illegally. I have already written to regulators once on the now-closed Silkroad, which operated for years in supplying drugs and other black market items to criminals, thanks in large part to the creation of Bitcoin.

That is why more than a handful of countries, and their banking systems, have cautioned against the use of Bitcoin. Indeed, it has been banned in two different countries?Thailand and China?and South Korea stated that it will not recognize Bitcoin as a legitimate currency. Several other countries, including the European Union, have issued warnings to Bitcoin users as their respective governments consider options for regulating or banning its use entirely. While it is disappointing that the world leader and epicenter of the banking industry will only follow suit instead of making policy, it is high time that the United States heed our allies? warnings. I am most concerned that as Bitcoin is inevitably banned in other countries, Americans will be left holding the bag on a valueless currency.

Our foreign counterparts have already understood the wide range of problems even with Bitcoin?s legitimate uses - from its significant price fluctuations to its deflationary nature. Just last week, Bitcoin prices plunged after the currency?s major exchange, Mt. Gox, experienced technical issues. Two days ago, this exchange took its website down and is no longer even accessible. This was not a unique event; news of plummeting or skyrocketing Bitcoin prices is almost a weekly occurrence. In addition, its deflationary trends ensure that only speculators, such as so-called ?Bitcoin miners,? will benefit from possessing the virtual currency. There is no doubt average American consumers stand to lose by transacting in Bitcoin. As of December 2013, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows 1.3% inflation, while a recent media report indicated Bitcoin CPI has 98% deflation. In other words, spending Bitcoin now will cost you many orders of wealth in the future. This flaw makes Bitcoin?s value to the U.S. economy suspect, if not outright detrimental.

The clear ends of Bitcoin for either transacting in illegal goods and services or speculative gambling make me weary of its use. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issued a report just this month stating, ?There is widespread concern about the Bitcoin system?s possible impact on national currencies, its potential for criminal misuse, and the implications of its use for taxation.? Before the U.S. gets too far behind the curve on this important topic, I urge the regulators to work together, act quickly, and prohibit this dangerous currency from harming hard-working Americans.

Sincerely,

U.S. Joe Manchin III

United States Senator

I thought they were for the free market. . . oh that's right they are politicians and rarely actually do what they say.

Tea party??

Let's ban dollars -- lots more illicit activities are funded with the dollar than anything else.

Joe Manchin might switch to the Republicans - he's a Dem in name only - not sure about Tea Party though

Anyway I hope the US moves against BTC, we might get a big price drop for a while, then new regs will only strengthen it.

Title: Idiot Tea Party Republican senator proposing ban on Bitcoins
:error:error:error:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

fucking politics

now a US move against BTC will strengthen it? holy fuck. you get the sochi gold medal for full retard.

:thumbsup

I'm sure some bank is greasing his pockets.. He doesn't even know what a Bitcoin is.

Let me have my fun. I'm bored and doing some monotonous tasks :)

this thread's got traction!

A move against BTC could make it plummet - for a while..which is what I'm hoping for (buy buy buy!) And yes absolutely new regs - no matter how stringent will bolster the cred of cryptos and give legitimacy.

when are you going to get tired of name calling and give that site of yours a much needed facelift - I mean..at least make it look like it was made in '01 :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

A congressman contacts the federal reserve to pass a law and cites communist laws as the reason? Sounds legit.

Sounds like he had a hidden stash of funds in MTGOX and is pissed he lost his hidden nest eggs value overnight.

Not tea party

Not going to happen. Just another empty suit Republican trying to get some facetime on the latest hot news topic. If it were about farting he would be trying to pass a methane tax.

FYI... that little "D" behind his name doesn't stand for Republican. :winkwink:

anything that cant be taxed is evil!

That would not fit democrat fanboys agenda of "republicans are stupid" :2 cents:

I've been trying to think just exactly how a US "Ban" on Bitcoin would look like - some have said that the gov could block all fiat to BTC transfers - I don't think that's possible..for one it would take an act of congress to make a sweeping new law that would apply only to cryptos and not affect other currencies - which would get tied up in the courts for years and most likely get struck down. Even if they did pull off some crazy law that made it illegal to change BTC into dollars - exchanges would be set up in other countries in days not weeks - already BTC are traded at every Starbucks anyway. Any attempt to drive it underground would only send the new emerging economy elsewhere and all the associated tax revenue.

Aside from that - making mining and mining equipment illegal...can you imagine the field day the "small gov" nuts would have - that would have zero chance in the courts.

Maybe they could make it illegal to have a BTC wallet on your computer - kinda like cp? Yea right.

Maybe some takedown system where they demand all BTC related info removed from any website ala DMCA - that would have no effect other than people would host in other countries.

No there is no way to "Ban" cryptos - not even a little bit. Nuking the entire internet would be the only way to slow BTC.

What are you blathering about? I paid capital gains on my BTC investments and income tax on my mining proceeds for 2013. US Govt. put out very clear rules to refer to. :2 cents:

My bad. My kneejerk reaction to stupidity is attribute it to Republicans. There are some Democrats just as ignorant.

I don't see why they couldn't just do like they did with internet gambling. Make it illegal for banks to process transactions that involve bitcoins. If you can't trade the bitcoin for cash it will make it much less appealing for some.

Sure, a person could still likely trade them for Euros then trade the Euros for US dollars, but that makes things kind of a pain in the ass.

this will just raise bc value lol

Not happening, an act of Congress would have to declare BTC is not a currency, which it clearly is. A law like this would have scant chance of making it though BOTH houses AND be signed into law by Obama...Then of course furious legal challenges (well funded by BTC Millionaires and the big exchanges) would fight it tooth and nail all the way to the Supreme Court - where it would stand little chance of success.

But for the sake of discussion let's say it succeeded those years long legal battles - right now there are many exchanges in other nations where you can easily convert your BTC into other Forex Currencies - or gold or silver etc - then BAM right into dollars...so the absolute max the US Gov could do it make you go through 1 extra step to get to US dollars. The net effect of this would ONLY be to fuck the IRS out of millions (billions?) of dollars in Tax revenue.

Ultimately this would begin to weaken the dollar as BTC grows - people would simply stop using it or caring about it. Bitcoin is international, the US Dollar...US law can't touch this.

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enha...5302196-16.gif

I thought this was a Mark Prince topic.

Senator Manchin, in the hearing of the Senate Banking committee, in his first question has just asked Fed chair Yellen about bitcoin. Manchin did his best to convey how evil bitcoin is, how it is used mainly for illegal uses, and asked the Fed what it is doing to regulate bitcoin. Yellen said the Fed didn't have authority to regulate bitcoin, and that if Congress wanted to, it could act to regulate bitcoin.

a snowflake has a better chance in hell than anything banning BTC to get through congress then be signed by Obama, then survive the onslaught of legal shitstorms