Bitcoin Is Unbreakable
“If the United States were to decide we don’t want cryptocurrency to happen in the United States and tried to ban it, I’m pretty sure we couldn’t succeed in doing that because this is a global innovation.” These were the words of Chairman Mike Crapo of the US Senate Committee on Banking and Urban Affairs while discussing blockchain and cryptocurrency regulations. Satoshi knew there would be potential resistance from governments accepting a new type of currency. This is why bitcoin involves a global network of multiple nodes scattered worldwide, which makes Bitcoin nearly indestructible. This doesn’t mean it can’t be disrupted. Let us take a look at a few scenarios that the US government could do to try and stop Bitcoin.
Internet
The Bitcoin network relies on the internet. Without it, the nodes that store the blockchain cannot connect to each other. The US government could just turn off the internet but that is highly unlikely due to the amount of commerce and typical transactions taking place each day. It would prove more devastating to the economy than what it would be to try and stop people from buying Bitcoin.
Banning Bitcoin
One might think if the government banned Bitcoin that it would just go away and that would be the end of the story. Probably not true. Quite the opposite is likely to happen. Banning Bitcoin would only prove that it must be useful if people are willing to risk going to jail in order to use it. It would also send a clear message that the government is restricting people’s financial
Buy It All Up
Could the government just buy up all the Bitcoin and keep it for themselves? In 2013 the FBI seized all the Bitcoin from Silk Road. It’s hard to believe that the US government didn’t know the potential of Bitcoin back then. At that time, Bitcoin’s market cap was only $1 billion. If they thought Bitcoin was such a threat, they could have started buying it all up then.
Conclusion
Banning something only makes it more desirable. The US government banned the sale of alcohol in the early 1900s. This proved impossible to enforce, so it was lifted. Banning drugs in the 1960s has had practically no effect. Illegal drugs can be found everywhere. Prisons are some of the most secure and protected places, but drugs are still readily available. I believe the US government knows that banning Bitcoin would only cause more problems than it would solve.