Did somebody say fine art = money laundering? A banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $120,000 at Miami's Art Basel this week

submitted by useless_aether from cbsnews.com

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[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

It's a catch-22. Without a government to give it recognition on a global stage the crypto-currency will never enter the global market.

I don't think this is the case.

Governments never legitimized bartering, trading, etc.

They co-opt whatever they can.

Make certain things illegal; if there's a motivation (illegal drug marked to cornered by the CIA, etc.).

Sometimes, they make them legal by force (opium wars, etc.).

State agency's will always try to make people think they are more powerful than they actually are.

Historically, intimidation/fear are the main tools of coercion.

Propaganda is only about 100 years old.

They are probably in control of the major crypto groups.
The independent ones might not be worth the effort at this point.

There's always cracks in the system.

[–]AnarchySpeach 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Governments never legitimized bartering, trading, etc.

Because they're incredibly difficult to tax from a lack of a paper trail.

Make certain things illegal; if there's a motivation (illegal drug marked to cornered by the CIA, etc.).

Oh yeah. CIA's been making bank selling cocaine to other countries. Sometimes giving it away for free just to help destabilize others. I doubt they'd be okay with massive populations of their own citizens taking half their black-budget income.

They are probably in control of the major crypto groups.

Some they have 100% control over. Others they have enough control to cause major fluctuations in their favor, but they would lose that control instantly if a country opened the floodgates to normal citizens to use it for mundane transactions.

The independent ones might not be worth the effort at this point.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Lack of notice doesn't always translate to a lack of worth.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

It sounds like you agree.

[–]beermeem 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

My coding professor in college loved to tell the joke about a VW Beetle. It's license plate?

FEATURE

[–]Tiwaking 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[–]beermeem 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Please don't link me to Wikipedia, brah.