Bitcoin and the Streisand effect

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Wikipedia defines the Streisand effect as “… a social phenomenon that occurs when an attempt to hide, suppress or censor information has the unintended consequence of making that information more widely known.” People instinctively become more curious about things that are intentionally hidden from them and will actively seek that information more aggressively.

https://sketchplanations.com/the-streisand-effect

The name is derived from American artist Barbara Streisand, whose attempt to hide photos of her luxurious Malibu home backfired when she attempted to have the images removed. Initially, the photos were only published on the website of a land surveyor who studied soil erosion on the California coastline. However, Streisand’s attempt to have these photos taken off the internet through a lawsuit sparked a massive media frenzy, as reporters and media scrambled to cover the case. The photos went from four pageviews on the surveyor’s website to millions of people as they were posted on the internet, simply because Streisand did NOT want them to be seen.

The U.S. Infrastructure Bill and the Future of Bitcoin

Recently, the US Senate passed an infrastructure bill that was filled with rampant spending of US tax dollars. These unnecessary political decisions included spending such as $ 250 million for a program to eliminate an invasive plant species and $ 50 million for studies to determine how people could be taxed more, based on the number of kilometers driven. This bill also introduced tax reporting obligations for bitcoin users and builders that would be technologically unenforceable – requiring “brokers” to report tax information they would never have access to in the first place, and they couldn’t afford them if they wanted to – creating insurmountable regulatory hurdles for those who use and build the Bitcoin network, stifling the growth of this new technology in America.

Because Bitcoin cannot be stopped or shut down, it means that any publicity – negative or positive – any attack or attempt to suppress the network through restrictive legislation is ultimately good for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a global network. If we run away from innovation here, it will go elsewhere. And those who welcome it with open arms will benefit massively, not only from job creation, but also from the waves of second and third order positive effects that adopting a sound currency can bring to their economies.

Bitcoin will survive regardless.

The media will NEED media coverage of these stories for their readers, and whether the news is positive or negative does not matter.

What matters is that more people are introduced to the idea of ​​Bitcoin.

What matters is that people are starting to ask, “Why does the government want to choke off this new form of money?” “” Why do they seem to be fighting this technology instead of welcoming it with open arms? “Will Bitcoin be able to survive this?”

And in doing so, waves of new people will discover Bitcoin.

This supposedly negative legislation will serve as the first point of contact for the discovery of Bitcoin by many, and for some, send them down the rabbit hole, thirsty for more knowledge about Bitcoin.

So it’s not so much the US Senate trying to stop Bitcoin that matters.

What matters is that at the end of the day Bitcoin is just an idea. An idea whose time has come. And as the character V says in the movie “V for Vendetta”… “Ideas are bulletproof.

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