Guess Who Hates the Bitcoin?

The rise of Bitcoin is relevant because unlike banker-created currencies, the number of Bitcoins in circulation will always be finite (20 million). Its not like Federal Reserve notes, which can be printed as per the needs of The Powers That Be (similar to the way Ben Bernanke adjusts the speed of his treadmill). This makes the Bitcoin inflation-proof. Of course, the Bitcoin can be subjected to shock and awe by suddenly releasing Bitcoins which were hoarded for years, but even such effects are temporary. As another medium of monetary exchange, Bitcoin logs all transactions to a register, which is highly decentralised, and operates through a peer to peer network, making it very difficult to kill (They couldn’t kill illegal file sharing networks, so good luck with Bitcoin). The Powers That Be might have to kill the Internet to kill Bitcoin, which they won’t because many of their commercial and surveillance activities are now dependent on the internet. While Bitcoin does log all transactions to a register, it does aid privacy by not obligating the bearers of Bitcoins to authenticate themselves (as in the case of plastic money). And The Powers That Be are hell bent on destroying economies where people can transact freely, in the absence of predatory taxation authorities and the monetary perverts known as the banking industry, who always watch where capital is moving. What’s more, a new service called Bitreserve is bringing the Bitcoin closer to the stable gold standard, while the official American dollar drifts further away from it. And new hardware based Bitcoin wallets are making Bitcoins impossible to steal.

The writing is on the wall. The Powers That Be Hate the Bitcoin. But if in case that is not clear, here are some instances which indicate their dislike of the Bitcoin.

Apple Hates the Bitcoin

Apple has removed at least two Bitcoin-based apps from its App store. In other words, if you are using an iPhone, you cannot use it to transact using Bitcoins. Why would Apple do this, given the rising user base of Bitcoin? Apple has also been in the news for blocking drone strike tracking apps from its App Store. On the other hand, Apple builds in enhanced tracking features into its iPhone. To quote

In April 2011, iPhone and iPad users were surprised to discover that, not only was their device keeping track of where they’d been, it also was storing very detailed location information in a plain-text file on the phone.  The data was derived by the cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots the devices encountered, and was added anonymously to a crowdsourced database. Apple later said the devices were keeping more information than intended due to a bug, and issued a patch that reduced the amount of data. But, because it was used to improve and speed up location services, the practice continued.

Apple has also denied an NSA backdoor, although it is strange how the NSA could be working on a closed source, internally developed proprietary software like the iOS. When Edward Snowden began leaking documents hinting at Apple’s cooperation with the NSA, Apple suddenly patched up a “Cybersecurity Flaw” which until then, had gone unnoticed by them.

Do we see a pattern here?

The Chinese Government Hates the Bitcoin

Bitcoin was all set for a golden future in the Far East, where anonymity in financial transactions is treasured, an alternatives to the highly inflated RMB are welcomed. But the People’s Bank of China shut down the ability of China’s first Bitcoin trading company to trade Bitcoins for Chinese RMB.

In other words, restrictive, totalitarian police states hate the Bitcoin.

Russia Hates the Bitcoin

The Russian government has issued a statement saying that Bitcoins are to be avoided and Bitcoin transactions will be treated as suspicious. No comment needed. Oh, but there’s this:

In Soviet Russia, Bitcoin mines YOU!

(Sorry, couldn’t resist).

Paul Krugman wants you to believe that the Bitcoin is Evil

In a recent article, Paul Krugman is worried that the Bitcoin will damage Central Banking. He believes that we should still stick with dollars because the United States government will always welcome them as a medium to pay our taxes. But how long will the United States government (or the Federal Reserve)  last? There is a good chance that the Bitcoin will outlast it.

Another noted tech-journalist Felix Salmon has placed a symbolic bet with Bitcoin enthusiast VC Ben Horowitz that in 2019, less than 10% of Americans will have used Bitcoins for transactions.

There is a Witchhunt for Bitcoin’s Founder(s) and Exchange Operators

Forget the fact that the Bitcoin has successfully established itself as a crypto-currency. The mainstream media has launched a witchhunt for the real founder(s) of Bitcoin, hoping that he, she or them can be coaxed into selling out and reversing the rise of the Bitcoin. Although some suspects have been produced, The mainstream media is already laying charges that the founder(s) are guilty of benefitting as early holders of Bitcoin (Forget the fact that they created a new currency from scratch….something the bankers couldn’t accomplish in another 100 years).

On January 27, 2014, BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem was arrested at New York’s JFK airport and charged with “conspiring to commit money laundering, and the BitInstant website has been blank since then. All the while, big bank CEOs continue to get bonuses.

On February 28th 2014, Autumn Radke, the American CEO of Bitcoin exchange First Meta was found dead in her Singapore home after a suspicious suicide at age 28.

The American CEO of Bitcoin Exchange First Meta was found dead after a suspicious suicide.

On 5th March 2014, Canadian Bitcoin Bank Flexcoin shut down after a very sophisticated hacking theft.

While authorities are desperate to shut down Bitcoin exchanges, some of their agents inadvertently vindicate the value of Bitcoins by stealing $820,000 worth of them in the process.

Goldman Sachs is Worried about the Bitcoin

Getting a comment on the Bitcoin from Goldman Sachs is the equivalent of getting a comment from Bitcoin’s biggest competitor, the United States Federal Reserve. The relationship between interests and figures associated with the two organisations, one private, the other quasi-private, overlap more than enough times to raise red flags. Here’s what they have to say.

“We would argue that Bitcoin, and other digital currencies, lie somewhere on the boundary between currency, commodity and financial asset,” write Dominic Wilson, chief markets economist at Goldman Sachs, and Jose Ursua, a  global economist with the firm. “Our best definition would be that it is currently a speculative financial asset that can be used as a medium of exchange.”

But they grudgingly accept it’s relevance

Global Advisers’ founding co-principal Daniel Masters likens Bitcoin’s tumultuous trading to the spike in silver prices from 2005 to 2011.

“In my view there is voracious demand for new Bitcoin, and, similar to silver, prices will have to rise dramatically to meet it. Specifically I think the call on Bitcoin could very reasonably be $150 billion, which places it, ironically, in the same ballpark as the valuation of Amazon and of Greece’s M1 money supply,” Masters said.

And they intend to contain they Bitcoin phenomenon by “regulating” it, turning it into something identical to the Federal Reserve’s US dollar

The critical component that’s missing for the adoption and use of Bitcoin is regulation, according to Allaire. “Ultimately what’s going to be necessary is common supervision. There need to be common rules for how digital currency exchanges, wallet services, etc. operate that are consistent around the world.”

Allaire also said that financial institutions like Goldman Sachs are going to have to step up. “All of the very top firms are very interested in the U.S. based trading exchange space,” Allaire said.

Goldman Sachs maintains that it does not yet have an institutional perspective on Bitcoin, but that several initiatives are underway to get a handle on the phenomenon.

Conclusion

If Bitcoin continues its upward spiral, we will soon witness all the traditional enemies of innovation and economy crawling out of the woodwork and banding together against the Bitcoin. This list will continue to grow.