Bitcoin is unstoppable: Is it really?

With all the rumblings of government interference in cryptocurrencies such as the latest Chinese ban on crypto exchanges, it's worth considering for a moment how resistant cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin would be in the face of a sustained and coordinated attack by the governments of the world.

I know it makes a great sound bite to say Bitcoin is unstoppable (BTW this is a great video) and many crypto fans often talk about how BTC and cryptos are beyond government control. How it couldn't be shutdown or that you would have to shut down the Internet to stop it, but I'm not so sure about that. People who make these statements may be underestimating the power and reach of their own governments.

No shortage of technical capability

The governments clearly have access to plenty of technical expertise. Take the NSA for example, they have proven themselves to be pretty good at shutting things down, even things that are supposed to be beyond their reach. Covertly getting into air-gapped computers (not connected to the Internet) and destroying uranium centrifuges as we saw with the Stuxnet computer virus is not an easy technical challenge to pull off. Other national cyber offensive teams are probably not too far behind in terms of skills and capability. So what we can surmise from this is that the resources and skills required to do serious damage against cryptos are already in place, all that's required is a reason and a will to do so.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures

In desperate times even democratically elected governments who like to lecture others on freedom and human rights, can adopt draconian measures to clap down hard on dissent and any activities, and citizens that is reckoned to be a threat. Look at what happened since the last financial crisis of 2007 to see how quickly things can go from good to bad. Some countries and societies were almost pushed to the brink of collapse by the crisis.

It's true that cryptos are still in an early stage of adoption and have not become a big enough threat yet for major action to be taken, but should cryptos ever become a big enough "problem" that threatens the very power and control of the state, then you can bet your bottom dollar that something can and will be done about it.

Dismantling cryptos bit by bit

Dismantling mainstream support and use of bitcoin or cryptos is probably not all that difficult to do. By the stroke of a pen, legislation could be made to ban cryptos or only permit state-controlled cryptos. There have already been rumblings of government controlled cryptos with the central bank backed RSCoin, and then market freezes and rumored bans on Bitcoin or exchanges. Another big chunk of users (less tech savvy ones) can be taken out by applying some network based technical restrictions. Throw in some good old fashion fake news (used to be called propaganda back in the gold old days) to generate FUD and you could turn most of the populace off cryptocurrencies.

The remaining diehard users who are technically able to overcome the technical barriers will be the minority who will now be considered as law breakers classed alongside the likes of drug dealers, money launderers, terrorist, traffickers, etc.

Without a large and growing user base to fuel the network effect and drive prices up, there's few reasons to believe that cryptos and BTC can continue its journey onwards and upwards.

Died a hundred times already

While I'm really hopeful on the potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to solve many pressing problems. It makes me sad to think that it may prove to be too disruptive. Statements like those made by Roger Ver in this video (07:00) are probably the kind that would strike fear in hearts and minds of the ruling class.

Governments and central banks like blockchain tech but don't like decentralization. Blockchain without decentralization is like gin without the tonic, Laurel without Hardy, it's the antithesis of the founding ideas of Bitcoin.

In contrast, projects and coins like NEO, Ripple (XRP), OmiseGo (OMG), and others that are either already in, or getting into bed with the establishment may well fare the best in the long run.

If you are interested in reading more about the other side of the cryptocurrency story you can read this blog by James Rickard on the the Global Elites' plans for cryptocurrencies. Whether you agree with Rickard or not, there's definitely some interesting points in this blog and its always good to consider both sides of a story before you make up own mind.

And check out this article too for more on how governments can really set Bitcoin back.

On the other hand, Bitcoin was supposed to have died 159 times at the time of writing so is it likely to die any time soon?

What do you think?

Do you think that bitcoin and cryptos are really unstoppable?

Leave a comment below and up vote if you enjoyed this blog.

Thanks for reading.