In response to the article

Tech at Night: What you need to know about the anti-liberty Bitcoin
By: Neil Stevens (Diary) | June 14th, 2014 at 02:00 AM |

http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/14/tech-night-need-know-anti-liberty-bitcoin/

Disappointing, there are several inaccurate statements in the article. Many people still have misunderstandings about Bitcoin.

1- No central authority is great – we don’t need masters and cronies and central bankers to devalue our currency. How would having bigger government, the cycle of cronyism and the Fed be equated with liberty?

2- The developers can not push forward changes on a whim – the basic code is set and changes have to be agreed on by consensus of the entire network – this is mistaken.

3- The claim that crime is made easier by Bitcoin is true — BECAUSE everything is make easier by Bitcoin — crime is also made easier by mobile phones, shoes, cars and computers….that’s what new technology does, it makes things easier for people, including criminals.

4- As far as any evidence that Bitcoin causes more crime, there just isn’t such evidence – the drug war has been a failure and some states have opted to decriminalize – so there is an argument to be made that this is a crime many citizens don’t feel is a crime anyway. But nevertheless, the entire value of all Bitcoin on planet earth is only a fraction of the amount of known money laundering by banks like HSBC and Well Fargo, both of whom have been caught laundering hundreds of billions in drug cartel money – the claims of Bitcoin being used for child pornography are pure fear driven nonsense not backed by any evidence — Bitcoin is overwhelmingly used by legitimate people for legal purposes – an increasing number of mainstream retailers like Expedia, Overstock, Tiger Direct and others accept Bitcoin.

5- Property rights — no way to reverse a transaction is also a feature and benefit of Bitcoin — no reversal means no authoritarian government or other who can seize or take your funds – this is a pure example of property rights and personal responsibility. The author seems to think that property rights can only be granted by central government authority. In reality big government central authority doesn’t grant personal property rights.

6- Bitcoin is private and anonymous – the writer is mistaken in saying that identity is tracked, yes, the Bitcoin address is listed on the Blockchain but this is absolutely not tied to an individuals identity, new addresses could be created easily, free and instantly for each transaction.

7- Bitcoin is useful to far more than criminals. – it is useful to people who see the value in a currency limited to a finite total issuance, which can’t simple be printed by Janet Yellen and the Fed, it is valuable because it enables one to transfer money all over the world instantly and have control over your own financial destiny.

When the internet started becoming mainstream people feared it would be a haven for criminals. Today some of the best and brightest minds are backing Bitcoin technology because they believe it will create a more free world.