
Can the Bitcoin Community Stop Neo-Nazis from Using the Digital Currency? - artsandsci
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbbb5y/can-the-bitcoin-community-stop-neo-nazis-from-using-the-digital-currency
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seabird
Remember yesterday when people said this slippery slope was never going to
happen?

I'm at a loss for words on what to say about this. Private businesses doing
what they like in terms of serving customers is entirely valid, but it has set
a dangerous precedent in the minds of people who don't know where to draw the
line. The author has this asinine idea that the Bitcoin community needs to
"step up" and compromise the very reason it exists because of what has
effectively become a Nazi boogeyman. This excerpt makes it abundantly clear
how little he understands the value or overreaching goal of Bitcoin:

"If they're the average bitcoiner, they might just have to look on with horror
as their digital currency is used by neo-Nazis."

The idea that just because a group uses (or even glorifies) a currency or
token of some sort, the claim you support or enable their ideals by holding it
is outright stupid. "If they're the average US dollar holder, they might just
have to look on with horror as their currency is used by neo-Nazis."

The best part is that the author is entirely ignorant of one of the large
driving forces behind Bitcoin's cultural impact; it has long been a tool for
moving drugs, reagents, firearms, explosives, counterfeit money, stolen credit
cards, stolen information/databases, and child pornography, long before it was
ever a twinkle in Richard Spencer's eye. Yeah, you can ruin people's
livelihoods, contribute to criminal activity on a global scale, or distribute
opioids that will ravage poor communities, but you know what's worse than
that? Using Bitcoin to donate to a fringe political site, of course!

