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What were YOU thinking?
This post is the second part of my take on government regulation, interested in reading part one please click here: Part 1
Regulation: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Part II
In the previous post I discussed what can be good about regulation in an ideal world. Good Regulation is the exception and not the rule, if only, but alas it is not, this is the bane of contemporary man living in nation-states. If only we could be civil, come together, rationally decide on the best course of action, and where to invest our collective might, without paternalistic parasites in positions of power.
The Bad
Or how not to do regulation. It seems that much of the so called “regulation” that is coming for the Cryptoverse is straight up fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) for the uninformed. Anyone mildly indoctrinated into the crypto space knows that these “bans” are laughable. However, those less informed or who maybe considering moving some hard earn fiat into the crypto space may be scared off by their government’s aggressive proclamations. It is especially egregious in nations like Turkey where their currency is depreciating in value and the average citizens are seeking ways to hedge against a declining Lira.
It would appear the nature of this FUD is to slow down the adoption of crypto as alternative currencies. This is what really piques the ire of central bankers with their tired mantra of, "Bitcoin is not money." In the past people had no other options when the corruption and mismanagement of a state caused a currency to lose its value, but now they do, and this is unacceptable to those clinging onto antiquated notions of state sovereignty and power.
There are just so many examples of bad regulation. The American SEC’s arbitrary suit against Ripple. The Korean governments overzealous clampdown on exchanges. And just recently the attacks against Binance. This last example has all the hallmarks of FUD. The government makes a vague statement with no teeth. The next day banks line up to shut down customers sending currency to Binance. Barclays and Santander used a paternalistic and patronizing excuse that they are just “protecting their customers.” It all reeks of collusion and corruption. People should choose how they spend their money as they see fit. What is next I cannot use my card at a pub, or to buy cigarettes, or to order a sex doll!?! Obviously, the latter should be banned, but seriously where do they draw the line, you cannot “protect” people from themselves. If I want to piss away my money buying porcelain dog figurines, or some stupid dog shitcoin who are you to tell me how to spend my money. This is the playbook for regulators now, shut down the on and off ramps for the exchanges try to starve the Bitbeast.
The Ugly
I saved the most egregious for last, that notorious title goes to China, or more importantly the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). FUD is their default setting; the party cadres are innovative when it comes to repression and over regulation. The paternalism dripping from the slathering mouths of the CCP sycophants is cynicism unbound. They have no faith or trust of their own people so nearly everything is banned. Apparently, the Chinese people are just too fragile to make decisions of their own without the iron hand of the party guiding them. Despite the nearly constant flood of “regulation” and FUD from the CCP the Chinese people persevered for years innovating and being heavily involved in the Cryptoverse.
I will go into the China question more deeply in a later post, but for our purposes here the motivations of the CCP are manifold. Most importantly it is about control, the Cryptoverse is not something they can assert their inflexible dogmatism over. Secondly, it’s about competition to their own currency and trying to make the eYuan, digital RMB, their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) a world reserve currency. To a lesser extent their “bans” and paternalism toward their people are another way of enforcing their insanely strict capital controls.
In the long run it is for the best that crypto is "banned" in China, the influence and reach of the CCP is toxic, something not needed in the crypto ecosystem. It is unfortunate for the people of China they are going to miss out on world changing technology and the opportunity to profit from that. But again, for the CCP it is always about control. Which leads me to my last point about blockchain technology in general. Despite the CCP’s bans, great firewall, and regulations the Chinese people were still able to engage in the ecosystem. This will change as the government ensures there will be consequences to anyone engaged with crypto. They will weaponize their “laws” against their people. The idea of “financial freedom” is nightmare fuel to the quivering minions of the dear leader. They'll probably program their CBDC so it cannot be traded for crypto.... I'll save that for another discussion.
The world has changed, is changing, and will accelerate into even greater change. Government's ability to manage this change is diminishing, already a series of crises are mounting that will overwhelm nation-states. These political constructions are ill suited to the current state of humanity. I want to explore this more in another post. The center cannot hold, the periphery is disintegrating and no matter the posturing of the "strong states" their colossi's feet are built of clay. Many of the regulations these decaying institutions are throwing at the Cryptoverse seem to be tactical holding actions designed to forestall mass adoption and stave off the accelerated decomposition of their corrupted carcasses. In many cases they are having some success, that is why I want to come back to this notion of controlling the narrative. If you are not the master of your story then you will be mastered. Just like in fiction so like in life, because life is stranger than fiction. We must be the masters of the Cryptoverse and not the slaves of nations. A radiant crescendo is coming when humanity will realize the devastating poison of the nation state. So long thanks for all the fish.
TIME is the most valuable coin and thank you for spending yours reading my post. I hope you have a wonderful day.
>>> Anarchiss <<<
