Re:Buffett bashes Bitcoin as nonproductive, thriving on myst...
by strypey on Wednesday May 09, 2018 @12:39PM
(#17031296)
> Just look at what happened to online gambling 10 years ago.
And not a moment too soon. Gambling games are designed to be addictive, to bypass the judgment and decision-making centres in people's brains, and take their money. Providing places to go and gamble is one thing; people who walk in there ought to know they will probably lose every bean they walk in there with, so there's informed consent. Putting gambling games that accept real money on the web is effectively like putting coin-operated pokie machine in every living room (and these days every pocket) with a net connection. It's profoundly exploitative and totally deserved to be starved of financial oxygen IMHO.
Re:Buffett bashes Bitcoin as nonproductive, thriving on myst...
by 97s on Monday May 07, 2018 @02:26PM
(#17015105)
Exactly this, this is one of the very reasons I have not invested in bitcoin. Anything relating to a technology and banks that hasn't been stamp of approved is a risk. I luckily got the news before it happened and withdrew all my money from neteller and poker sites before they went down, however I had friends that had a lot of money locked up for months.
Cutting off exchanges from financial institutions will likely be the primary way the government attacks cryptocurrencies. Just look at what happened to online gambling 10 years ago. Online poker and sports gambling were booming. What the US did was prevent banking companies from doing business from gambling companies or intermediaries (e.g. Neteller). Basically overnight, online gambling became a shell of what it was previously. Sure there are still ways around it, but it's enough of a hassle that only the most die-hard players are going to find it worth it.
It doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to apply the same strategies to crypto. If financial institutions are prevented from doing business with Bitcoin, et al., it's basically game over, as long as its utility is dependent on buying with fiat currency.