

Bitcoin cryptocurrency is the first cryptocurrency that was ever created offering p2p decentralised transactions all over the world without relying on trust provided by third parties. In this article, I will discuss some of the misconceptions that emerge in the cryptocurrency craze. Can it be shut down? Who controls it? What will happen when Bitcoin gets regulated?

Who controls Bitcoin?

No one! Bitcoin is a decentralised public distributed ledger which lies on the Internet offering peer-to-peer transactions between its users. There is no central unit that can control Bitcoin’s blockchain or shut it down. In order to shut down Bitcoin then you have to shut down the Internet all over the world which is impossible.

Can Bitcoin get regulated?

The short answer is that Bitcoin itself can not be regulated. As Bitcoin’s blockchain has no central control, its all over the internet meaning its all over the world then it cannot be regulated. If the user owns the private keys of its wallet then no one can take your Bitcoins away from you, even if it is banned in your country. Bear in mind that if your bitcoins are currently on an exchange then you have no full control of your keys, meaning that you have no full control of your money.

Governments can regulate Bitcoin exchanges or companies that operate in their countries who make use of Bitcoin meaning that they can regulate Bitcoin on the entry level through banks. Therefore, banks will not accept any conversions from bitcoin to the fiat currency or vice versa. This will cause inconvenience among Bitcoin owners on how to convert them to traditional currencies but they will still own their coins.

Can Regulations be effective?

In some sort yes. Regulations can effect the spread in countries who ban Bitcoin, but will increase the spread and adoption to countries that do not ban the cryptocurrency.

However, we have seen it in the past and when the governments regulate and ban goods and services then several black markets arise. A Bitcoin holder, instead of going to the bank and exchange the amount of bitcoin in USD or EUR, can walk down the road and find someone who accepts Bitcoin and exchange them.

A study showed that 1.7 billion adults lack access to banking services and are not holders of a bank account. Moreover, in countries with high inflation rate such as Venezuela where their traditional currency is failing and people can’t pay for shelter or food then it will be of no importance whether a currency is regulated or banned as such currency can assist in achieving a living and a medium of exchange of goods and services.

Will all nations ban Bitcoin?

If they make their life’s mission to stop Bitcoin and Bitcoin holders of exchanging Bitcoins between them and disregard all the other problems the world is currently facing then they could stop it. Imagine the police coming down to check my phone apps to find my bitcoin wallet, or my house to find a piece of paper with my wallet’s private key. It is impossible to happen!

What the governments could do is create the EUR coin, USD coin, RUB coin etc. but what they won’t tell you is that they would be able at any time to issue new coins of that currency cutting in half the actual value of your holdings like they previously done.

Nevertheless, if you own your keys to your wallet, you own your money. As Andreas Antonopoulos said:

“They cannot regulate Bitcoin because bitcoin is us all of us and as long as I have the ability to have a phone and use that phone I can use Bitcoin”.

Bitcoin address: 3311fRxXNxgJp8mw6xv78zv5Dy6EbHzEWY

