Interesting article and they make some very valid points RE the existing manipulation by governments. Some governments, banks, and other institutions see the value in cryptocurricies and desire to utilize them. Others are panicking because they don’t understand them.
However, I would disagree with their assumption governments could take over crypto. While they could regulate (ie: tax earnings upon crypto), they cannot “take over” crypto unless they move to a “great firewall of china” model of internet regulation and try to block the s**** out of coin competitors. And tech has found a way around the “great firewall” already, and, IMO, will continue to do so for future attempts. (See White Hat hackers v Black Hat hackers). Plus the black hat hackers would probably hack the hell out of any government which tried.
IMO, a government could create their own coin and back it, manipulate it, pump and dump it, in any manner they see fit; however, due to the real free market for crypto, no one has to mine, buy, or trade it. The world free market will decide which coins it feels have value. Just like we value a worthless piece of paper as a $100 bill. Many scam crptocurrencies do exist. Go to any crypt coin price tracking page and you can see these coins with little or no value and market share. The global free market determined they are worthless.
IMO, if a government tried the same thing, the global free market would determine if they have a value. If the government F***'s around with it, then it will be worthless too. The government has to post the code and the algorithm to allow programmers to create miners to mine the coin. Once programmers get into the code, they can see if the government screwing around, and, if so, then the coin is going no where, IMO.
Further, once a government tries to force acceptance of one coin or prevent another coins use, it backfires. Recently China enacted rules to prevent the buying or selling of BTC with the Chinese Yuan. Currently, all public and private parties are barred from buying or selling BTC with Yuan. The market adapted, and now the Chinese exchanges have moved out of china, the Chinese people are using peer-to-peer apps to transact in BTC, and nothing prevents creating a wallet outside of china which then can be used to transact BTC in China. If the Chinese had decided to tax BTC transactions, they could have earned enormous sums of money and kept the BTC transactions in China. Now they have lost all control. Bitcoin Regulation In China Still Unclear, But Chinese Exchanges Thrive Overseas
IMO, due to the electronic nature of crypto, safe havens can pop up anywhere in the world to continue the viability of a crypto coin and transactions in that coin. All you need is an internet connection and a computer. Until such time as we have one world government (a nod to all you science fiction fans), IMO no government can take over crypto.
As I posted earlier, IMO, I feel cryptocurrencies are analogous to electronic precious metals. They have to be mined. You hold held them electronically in wallets, like you would hold gold in a safe which no one can access (ie: you can put you wallet on a harddrive or USB and keep it in your safe). You can trade futures in them. And we arbitrarily assign a value to them linked to fiat currencies. IMO a smart investor would diversify into many wealth capturing devices, including stocks, bonds, cash, precious metals, commodities, AND cryptocurrencies. Each will protect your from the vagaries in the other’s markets. IMO those who dismiss the viability of cryptocurrencies are doing so at their own financial peril.
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