Time to have a coffee. Been on this god-blessed evil machine now for too long.
Trying to get my tax situation here in Japan figured out. How I am handling all of this stuff is of course nobody's business but my own, but I am only writing this today to say that all the talk about the "benefits of official adoption/government regulation/recognition" when it comes to cryptocurrencies, is basically bullshit.
As pointed out by 
recently, regulation, combined with state-owned mass media, is stifling and sapping the markets.
People, once excited and inspired by this new clean money technology, where the fruits of your labor are yours, and you can actually begin to crawl out of debt if you work hard, are now understandably losing a lot of that entrepreneurial zeal, as governments clamp down on exchanges, implement ridiculous and complex taxes, and undercut the true market by co-opting existing exchanges and setting up their own.
I live in Japan, where all crypto coins are now recognized as official currency.
Great! Say the naive blockchain and crypto enthusiasts, the revolution is here! Crypto will subvert the state. Wait a minute, I am thinking, don't you mean that the state is subverting the original meaning of crypto? Now all of your transactions will be tracked, taxed, and subject to millions of eyes of bureaucratic scrutiny. Is that the "revolution" you are talking about? Sounds like a fucking pathetic display, to me.
I remember when I could go to Tokyo just two years ago and pay for a lot of different stuff with Bitcoin, as well as use Bitcoin ATMs freely to withdraw Japanese Yen. Then the regulations came. All the ATMs that allowed for crypto->fiat transactions were ripped out/shut down/taken away, and now the only ATMs business can afford to have, if they can afford the licensing fees, are machines that go the other way. Fiat -> crypto. Some may ask, what's wrong with that?
Well, these machines are connected to major state-regulated markets. So much for the human dignity of privacy when it comes to financial matters.
Even Steem is subject to ridiculous taxes here. Up to 55%. Not only on income, but on every single decimal point of a gain made through trading.
You see, the industrious blogger, charitable activist, or burgeoning entrepreneur, once so excited and inspired by these technologies, now sees the state closing in, and the real story of Communistic, totalitarian oppression comes into view. The harder you work. The more successful you are. The more you will be punished. It is best just to depend on the state and do as little as possible.
In order for the tech to be "revolutionary," it must be used in a revolutionary way. This involves real risk. People don't like real risk, especially when the price demanded by the state is often one's life in the the form of financial ruin, jail time, or murder.
As I said, how I am handling managing my risk/benefit "relationship" with the state is my personal business. Suffice it to say, however, that not using these technologies at all as they were created to be used, won't get us anywhere beyond the current corrupt fiat power system already in place.
"Crypto," has a meaning. "Cryptography" does not exist to make things readily visible by all. That's the whole point. Human dignity. Privacy.
Like I said, I need that coffee. Maybe I'll put some whisky in it this morning, too.
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DTube and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)