Bitcoin asserts that it is the world’s first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network, powered entirely by its users and without the intervention of a central authority or middleman. The absence of centralized control is the primary reason governments are fearful of cryptocurrencies. To comprehend this anxiety, it’s necessary to have a basic understanding of governments and conventional currencies.

However, numerous countries, including Bolivia, Argentina, and Vietnam, continue to prohibit the use of bitcoin. Surprisingly, China, the world’s fastest-growing economy, has likewise banned the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In this post, we shall investigate why the government is opposed to bitcoin. For more information, visit the bitcoin system.

Why Does the Government Dislike Bitcoin?

Certain countries prohibit bitcoin out of concern that it could be used for illicit or fraudulent purposes. Now, let’s look at the five primary reasons why some countries are opposed to bitcoin.

In Whom Do We Place Our Trust?

The term “fiat” refers to traditional currencies issued by governments. Fiat currencies have value only based on government assertions. That pledge means nothing to an increasing percentage of people. After all, fiat currencies lack any tangible backing.

Fiat currencies are backed solely by the government that issued them. If you desire gold, silver, beans, or tobacco, you must exchange your fiat currency for the thing from a person or institution that holds it.

Why Control Is Critical

Governments have complete control over fiat currency. Additionally, they control how fiat money can be exchanged, allowing them to monitor cash movement, determine who benefits from it, collect taxes on it, and track criminal activities.

Control Deficit As a result of Decentralization

Governments retain control over traditional currencies such as the dollar, euro, and yuan. They can monitor the flow of money across an economy, which generates profits and collects taxes accordingly. Additionally, they can easily follow criminal or fraudulent activity involving fiat monies. Control of the currency enables the government to exert influence over the economy, formulate monetary policy, and facilitate financial transactions, among other things. Because bitcoin’s underlying technology precludes a central authority for any transaction, the government cannot manage monetary policy and thus loses its jurisdiction. As a result, certain economies dislike bitcoin.

Concerns Regarding Crime

There has been so much written on virtual currency and crime that simply stating that untraceable financial transactions enhance offence suffices to summarize the topic. Its founder attributes the company’s success to bitcoin.

The Fiscal System is Complicated

While fears about crime are one of the most likely reasons, governments do not want legalese bitcoin. Another significant factor is that the fiscal treatment is pretty complex. Because bitcoin is based on blockchain technology, a decentralized network, the government has difficulty planning monetary policy and tax legislation. Taxation is a primary topic in monetary policy.

A Threat to Central Banks’ Business

With the assistance of central banks and financial institutions, the government maintains control over the country’s finances and economy. Many central banks have lost business due to Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption, which ultimately results in a loss for the government. As a result, both the government and central banks dislike bitcoin.

The Bitcoin’s Other Side

Apart from the attention-grabbing reality that virtual currencies may and are used for a wide variety of unlawful activities (it should be stressed that cash is used for many duplicate transactions), there is a genuine theoretical rationale for their use. It is founded on the truth that central bank manipulation of the money supply has triggered recessions, worsened unemployment, and spawned a global financial system centred on greed and corruption.

We need only look at the mortgage-market shenanigans that contributed to the financial crisis of 2009 to understand why disillusioned customers worldwide might support anonymous programmers’ efforts to disrupt a system that has benefited them. These are not novel concepts. The Austrian School, a school of economic thinking, formed in 1871, argues as a fundamental premise that central bank financial manipulation is detrimental.

Bitcoin: A Young Concept

Bitcoin’s value is likewise not steady. Therefore it’s challenging to use money with an unstable value. Many individuals continue to have reservations about the concept of bitcoin. Only time will tell whether bitcoin will become a worldwide currency.

Before Making a Purchase

Mt. Gox, the world’s largest exchange facility for converting dollars to bitcoins, collapsed spectacularly after hackers allegedly stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins. An earlier suspected hacking incident resulted in the theft of USD 8.75 million. Other bitcoin exchanges have similarly attributed losses to hackers. Because the cash is digital, it cannot be touched or held. Its value changes dramatically. It is built by anonymous programmers using a methodology that is far too complicated for the average person to comprehend, let alone engage in.

Because bitcoins are frequently stored on users’ computers, “users risk losing their money if they do not install sufficient antivirus and backup measures,” according to a European Central Bank study report titled Virtual Currency Schemes. Apart from hardware failure, discarding an old computer without first removing your bitcoin is another simple method to lose your digital money. In short, when you use bitcoin, you are entrusting your money to a sophisticated system that you do not comprehend, to people you do not know, and to an environment with limited legal recourse.

This would trigger enough red lights in the traditional world of investment to make it a disastrous idea. By contrast, the European Central Bank claimed in 2018 that bitcoin was simply one of over 1600 digital currencies in circulation worldwide. Even if bitcoin finally fails or is limited to a minor position on the global stage, one of its successors has the potential to transform how the world views currency fundamentally.

Final Remarks

Nobody knows for sure if the world will fully embrace bitcoin. However, the growing popularity of bitcoin demonstrates that it can destabilize the current financial system in the future. In any case, if you’ve never used Bitcoin before, try purchasing goods or services with it; you may even trade bitcoin for profit.