I have always been sceptical of regulations in the crypto world
"Sceptical" is a weak word - let's rather go with "I am vehemently opposed to regulation of the cryptoverse".
From https://www.flickr.com/photos/king-edward/2177819899/ by Edward Simpson shared under CC BY-SA 2.0 license.
Regulation is GOOD for decentralisation?
I'm a crypto fan, I want to see crypto do well.
But more important to me than the performance of cryptocurrencies in the short-term is what they stand for, and more specifically, what they stand against!
Cryptocurrencies stand against centralisation. They stand against government control and regulation. Their independence is their greatest strength!
Regulation is good - it will stabilise the market and bring in institutional capital
I don't care.
That's a short-term approach anyway - a way to make quick gains. In the long-term cryptocurrencies are going to win! They are going to usurp the legitimate currencies mantle from fiat and become the de facto global payment systems. That's going to happen, regulations or not. When it becomes a case of "jump on board or get left behind", multinationals aren't going to care if the United States SEC is happy about it or not, they're going to jump.
Regulation is not good. Regulation means delegating control to outsiders. Yes, it has its good points, I will happily concur with that, but in the long-term it is downright dangerous!
Centralisation
Centralisation is not good. Centralised control, centralised money, centralised regulations.
Essentially, those are all different facets of the same thing. Without rewriting a post that I have already written: the rich and powerful control the entire fiat money supply and its value. They buy government decisions and regulations to suit their agenda. Ultimately, unless you are one of a handful of extremely rich and powerful (and greedy and selfish) individuals - you lose. See this post for the gory details: https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@bitbrain/money-understanding-it-and-cryptocurrencies-part-3-cryptocurrencies
I have allowed this "regulations are good" train to carry on without saying too much about it, because it hasn't reached a threatening level yet. Yes, I've seen centralised money entering crypto. I know the major banks and banking families have invested in various ways. I know the centralised cryptos and crypto related companies: Ripple, Poloniex, Circle etc
But today they pushed things too far. Now I am speaking out.
The centralisation and control problem is not limited to crypto
The issue of "net neutrality" is an old one, and another good example of this battle being fought at a different location. A worrying piece of legislation was passed in the EU today. It's called the EU Copyright Reform and Articles 11 and 13 of it are highly controversial. Both were passed today.
Article 11, a.k.a. link tax, would force anyone using snippets of journalistic online content to get a license for the publisher first — essentially outlawing current business models of most aggregators and news apps.
Article 13, a.k.a. censorship machines, will make platforms responsible for monitoring user behaviour to stop copyright infringements, but basically means only huge platforms will have the resources to let users comment or share content.
From https://thenextweb.com/eu/2018/06/19/the-eus-disastrous-copyright-reform-explained/
That is a problem, a big one. Why? Because: You could interpret what I just posted as being illegal in the EU!
I linked to an article, as prohibited by Article 11. That's right, the very act of showing you were I found that information - is now against EU policy.
Please tell me you can see the problem with that!
What does this mean?
It means that the EU has voted to force platforms to deploy enormous resources to ensure that everything meets their copyright standards. Every picture, news link, article, meme etc posted must have the correct permissions in order to be allowed. The implications of this are dire.
I'm a good blogger, I always post attributions in accordance with the required licences. But look around blog sites, most bloggers do not (a pet peeve of mine, but it happens). What must the platform now do? Shut down? Not serve the EU? Regulate everything?
The resources required to regulate everything and continue business as usual are phenomenal. Only the biggest names will be able to do it: Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook. Only the biggest names will be able to comply with the new regualtions, the smaller ones won't be able to continue to operate as before! Not legally in the EU anyway. Well look what we have here: large centralised organisations with money and power are benefiting from government regulations. Fancy that! What a fortunate coincidence for them! 😡 Do you see the bigger picture now? You can bet that those making the decisions were influenced - somehow - consciously or subconsciously.
I'm not saying that I want people to steal each other's work. I don't like thieves. I don't like people who do not acknowledge the work of others. That is not going to help anyone.
But regulation like this is dangerous. It is a (another) control method. It's using the internet against us! You can bet your bottom dollar that such laws will just be added to. They will grow and grow, and never be reduced. Slowly, bite by bite, they erode your freedom and your ability to operate on an impartial internet.
What am I getting at?
People should self-regulate. Governments have proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they are absolutely incapable of making fair and uncorrupted decisions in favour of the common man. Instead: time and time again they support the centralised money - the big businesses, the bankers, their cronies and one another. It's a great big circle of rich and powerful people who help each other stay rich and powerful while oppressing everyone else. Perversely; they seek ever more wealth and power, at the expense of everybody else.
Please, Google "global wealth distribution" and see if I'm lying. Get ready to have your jaw hit the floor if you're not familiar with this information.
What to do
Firstly: I want you to be aware. Open your eyes to the reality of what is happening in the world around you. Follow the money. Dig behind the decisions. Empower yourself through knowledge, BUT - do not hop on the tinfoil hat train and follow the conspiracy theorists down the rabbit hole of factless supposition! That's a one-way trip to zero-credibility land. It can be hard to separate fact from fiction if you are not an experienced researcher. Feel free to ask me if you are in any doubt, I'm here to help you.
Secondly: Fight regulation. Oppose it at every turn. Let them know that we will not take this lying down. We will undermine, oppose, circumvent, outflank, out-think any and every regulation that they try to throw at us. Ignore their regulations as far as it is possibly safe to do so. Jump platforms if you must. Use VPNs, change to using privacy cryptos, raise awareness in others, blatantly break the rules that they can't enforce, use services based in crypto friendly/net neutral countries, fight, fight, FIGHT!
If we stick together and empower one another then they will not win, we will keep slipping through the cracks until we one day stand powerful enough to take them down head on. That will happen. I don't call myself a "futurist" for nothing you know! Crypto will dominate fiat. Net neutrality movements will beat regulations. There are more of us than there are of them. Don't let them tell you how to live your life!
Please read my post of Fighting Governments for more information, or read this post on how we can govern ourselves without the corruption of a democracy.
Footnote
Not all governments are evil (some are merely "bad" 😉). All credit to those who do a good job. There are some very progressive governments and some who seek to serve the people as they should. Sweden is looking good these days (and not just because it is a nation filled with tall, blonde Valkyrie look-alikes), Estonia has great e-residency and related programmes. There are others. But the vast majority are rotten to the core. Corrupt. Self-serving. Tyrants. Money and power, a deadly combination, work to reinforce one other's stranglehold on humanity as a whole. They must be stopped.
And that is up to you and me.
Get to work.
Yours in crypto,
Bit Brain
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by Bit Brain
