The U.S. Government Can Nationalize The Bitcoin Network At Any Time
===================================================================
Steps:
1. Janet Yellen and friends whip up anti-bitcoin drama in congress. For example: Iran, Russia,
China, international criminal organizations using bitcoin to avoid sanctions.
2. Congress gives the green light to nationalize the bitcoin network, and arrangements are made
to fund the operation via debt monetized by the Fed.
3. The Fed launches their own bitcoin exchange. The only transaction this exchange supports is to
exchange BTC for USD (again, from the money printer) at a rate arbitrarily fixed by the Fed. In
other words, you can sell BTC in exchange for USD, but you cannot buy BTC from this exchange.
4. The Fed then uses the money printer to buy a dominating share of available hash power. Existing
miners will be notified of this attack in advance so they can sell out before the bitcoin network
is nationalized. Mining rigs and components will be bought at any price until sufficient hash
power has been accumulated.
5. The Fed miners now reject any transaction that is not a transfer of BTC to their exchange wallet.
6. Anyone holding BTC is now forced to sell to the Fed at the fixed price, because the free market
rate is now zero (you can't sell a bitcoin on the free market at any price, as there will be no
miner who will record that transaction in the blockchain).
Notes
=====
1. "Honest" miners (ie. miners who can't print money to fund their operations) will very quickly
have to capitulate and either sell out or shut down. They can not last long playing the "who can
afford to lose more money" game against the Fed.
2. The longer the Fed operates their miners the cheaper it becomes for them to maintain their dominant
position with respect to hash power. Every minute the Fed mines BTC is a minute more of draining
the private sector's capital reserves, which are finite. The Fed's capital reserves are infinite.
3. The Fed can afford to maintain their hash power dominance forever.
4. Public opinion depends on the exchange rate the Fed sets. Since the USD will be provided by the
money printer they can set this rate to whatever is politically expedient. Special interests could,
of course, get special secret deals, etc.