-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Gregory Maxwell
On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 9:51 PM, StealthMonger
wrote: Yes, Bitcoin liberates trade from "public" extortion ("taxation").
It does no such thing.
Not true. Look at the sources: ... Bitcoin can be considered to be another variety of cash, i.e. digital cash. ... and cash can also be used for tax evasion purposes. [1] [2] Bitcoin prevents inflation and helps tax evation [sic] (the system itself is hard to regulate) [3]
Under US law, for example, Barter in Bitcoins is just as taxable as ...
States describe their pronouncements as "law" in an effort make them respectable.
Many Bitcoin users I know are kind and thoughtful people and all of the developers I know are.
Are you suggesting that there is something unkind or thoughtless about promoting a free market?
Tying it back to the list topic.
Seems to be on-topic. From the liberationtech Info Page: The Program on Liberation Technology "Liberationtech" seeks to understand how information technology can be used to defend human rights, improve governance, empower the poor, promote economic development, and pursue a variety of other social goods. [4] By these criteria, Bitcoin discussion qualifies.
There are some interesting challenges in the context of anonymity systems (in particular) which I think that Bitcoin, and technologies from its ecosystem, can contribute to improving. Generally preventing denial of service from resource starvation or spam is frustrated when participants are anonymous.
Resource starvation? Anonymous markets have thrived throughout
history, and probably before.
[1] http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/virtualcurrencyschemes201210en.pdf
[2] "tax evasion" is their euphemism for successful defense against
their extortion.
[3] http://shadowlife.cc/files/btcotc.pdf
[4] https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
- --
-- StealthMonger