Too few people know enough about crypto, and also care enough, for you to get lost in a sea of folks breaking the same law. It'll be a short list of very loud, vocal, easy targets. I'd wanna be as far away from that as I could be.
Especially since a very large use case for crypto - especially in non-custodial wallets - especially people avoiding KYC, is crime.
The ratio of ancaps to criminals on this list is likely very low.
[edit] The real risk of finding yourself on this shortlist of non-custodial wallets is suddenly finding yourself on the wrong side of the IRS.
Most blockchains are pseudonymous, and the government has tools to track and de-pseudonymize, or at least map and aggregate - transactions. If the government wanted to go after you for breaking this law, they'd probably just throw together a quick list of people the IRS should start poking around at.
They know as well as you do that you probably didn't report every transaction you've ever done on every exchange, DEX, or platform. That's tax fraud, straight up. Much easier to prove, and much harder to argue on merits.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: if your government is coming for you, no amount of magic beans in your computer will keep you or your value safe. If you don't trust your government you've got bigger problems than crypto. If you trust your government crypto is irrelevant.
As Beria, Stalin's side-kick said, "Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime."
I work at a bank and the mountain of anti money laundering / KYC regulations we have to deal with is mind-boggling. I’m not surprised that such a law is coming especially since in my view, the decentralized nature of crypto makes money laundering even easier.
Even if you kept a blacklist of wallets with dirty money, I think it would be possible to spin up a chain of brand new wallets and quickly funnel coins through them before the blacklist could keep up in a way that would be impossible with fiat transactions and traditional banks. I could be wrong though, maybe someone’s got an algo for that.
> If you don't trust your government you've got bigger problems than crypto. If you trust your government crypto is irrelevant.
This is far too black and white. You may trust your government not to engage in a vendetta against you for no reason and still not trust them not to pass onerous regulations that harm you unintentionally and then provide no recourse for the victims of that outcome.
arcticbull|5 years ago
Especially since a very large use case for crypto - especially in non-custodial wallets - especially people avoiding KYC, is crime.
The ratio of ancaps to criminals on this list is likely very low.
[edit] The real risk of finding yourself on this shortlist of non-custodial wallets is suddenly finding yourself on the wrong side of the IRS.
Most blockchains are pseudonymous, and the government has tools to track and de-pseudonymize, or at least map and aggregate - transactions. If the government wanted to go after you for breaking this law, they'd probably just throw together a quick list of people the IRS should start poking around at.
They know as well as you do that you probably didn't report every transaction you've ever done on every exchange, DEX, or platform. That's tax fraud, straight up. Much easier to prove, and much harder to argue on merits.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: if your government is coming for you, no amount of magic beans in your computer will keep you or your value safe. If you don't trust your government you've got bigger problems than crypto. If you trust your government crypto is irrelevant.
As Beria, Stalin's side-kick said, "Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime."
Jorge1o1|5 years ago
Even if you kept a blacklist of wallets with dirty money, I think it would be possible to spin up a chain of brand new wallets and quickly funnel coins through them before the blacklist could keep up in a way that would be impossible with fiat transactions and traditional banks. I could be wrong though, maybe someone’s got an algo for that.
Opinions my own.
AnthonyMouse|5 years ago
This is far too black and white. You may trust your government not to engage in a vendetta against you for no reason and still not trust them not to pass onerous regulations that harm you unintentionally and then provide no recourse for the victims of that outcome.
arisAlexis|5 years ago
floatingatoll|5 years ago