The fears of privacy coins being banned are highly overblown

Ever since the issue with Japan cracking down on privacy coins many people have asked me if this is something to be concerned about, if privacy coins are going to be delisted on most exchanges or banned completely. This post is intended to serve as an easy reference in case someone is worried about the FUD.

Circle which is backed by Goldman Sachs doesn't seem to think that this is going to be the trend or that privacy coins would be made illegal: https://blog.circle.com/2018/05/07/circle-invest-welcomes-monero/

Sure, they can and are trying to tax and regulate but I personally don't think privacy coins are going to be made illegal (and this is also the opinion of the attorneys I've consulted - as I'm not a lawyer I would never spout shit about things I am not an expert in when it comes to potentially risking other people.)

People made the same argument about PGP and the (US) government tried but they lost. The case law on this is pretty clear, software code is free speech.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States

the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that software source code was speech protected by the First Amendment and that the government's regulations preventing its publication were unconstitutional.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junger_v._Daley

Following a district court victory in the Bernstein v. United States case on the same matter, Junger amended his complaint to ask for an injunction on enforcement of the regulations prohibiting his publication of encryption course materials on the Internet. The case led to an important ruling in 2000, with the Sixth Circuit holding that software source code is protected by the First Amendment.

Funny thing is that if the government hadn't tried so hard to stomp out PGP it wouldn't even have gone to the courts for them to deliver rulings that what the government tried to do was a violation of 1A, and therefore establishing precedent.

Thanks, US government, for your service!

This was from years ago but hardly anyone mentiones it: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/FIN-2013-G001.pdf

Monero doesn't have a pre mine (lol Sumokoin) or ICO or founder's reward (lol Zcash) and other questionable things so it actually makes it one of the few coins that are compliant with being a "decentralized virtual currency."

This is what got Ripple in trouble and they're not even a privacy coin, so the idea that privacy coins are going to be cracked down on doesn't fit the data:

https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-ripple-labs-inc-first-civil-enforcement-action-against-virtual https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/Ripple_Facts.pdf

Some claimed that Ripple is a "banker coin" and therefore would be safe and given a pass but they're the one who is facing some of the most serious regulatory issues due to their noncompliance with all that FINCEN guidance.

Outlawing math never works, and human ingenuity will always find a way. DEXs, localbitcoins, localmonero, etc are just the rudimentary start of things (atomic swaps will be a game changer in the next few years) for people who'd rather not do it within the regulatory framework for whatever reason, and it's an arms race between the govt and people who value freedom of choice or privacy etc tech wise. Fun fact: XMR is the top coin traded on Bisq (no KYC.)

Funny how I saw all this coming and left the US a while back because I could sense the winds of crypto hostility and I knew I wanted to help #BUIDL some of the most exciting technological innovations I've seen in my life, but without being legally pwned over some nonsensical confusing BS law. Back then, people called me paranoid...but you see it so clearly now when most ICOs don't allow US investors, SEC cracking down and causing a chilling effect making companies leave or shutter and people arrested and prosecuted for the high crime of selling their own coins peer to peer to someone else, in person. All it's doing is causing brain drain and the US is already falling back badly in this space due to the over-regulation.

I think at this point the only way to even begin to attempt to fight this nonsense to #BUIDL censorship resistant platforms that protect user privacy and prevent people from being victims of being prosecuted simply for things like thought crime or voluntarily buying and selling things that aren't even illegal peer to peer.

I have actually been talking to some people about setting up an OTC platform for Monero like #bitcoin-otc. I don't have the free time at the moment...yet I am closely watching the regulatory environment and if DEXs and such are going nowhere within the next few years while people are forced more and more to submit to onerous regulations against their wishes...who knows, we may just find the time.

This is legal where I now live (Hong Kong) so GTFO, Interpol. :)

tl;dr: The sky is not falling, nobody is banning privacy coins, stockpile, HODL, keep calm and carry on.