<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 07:37:43AM -0700, spike wrote:</span><br></div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div class="y_msg_container"><br>> Using bitcoin will likely put you on the IRS's radar, and they have constitutionally unlimited powers.<br><br>I think we're a long way from the IRS having any real powers here. Brokerage firms are required to report the cost basis of many investments, making tax evasion on capital gains difficult, but bitcoin exchanges have no such requirement so far.</div><div class="y_msg_container"><br></div><div class="y_msg_container">Regarding this action by the Department of Homeland Security that I reported last
night: the market apparently took it as a shock, though not a terribly severe one. BTC dropped from about $120 to about $103 in a matter of an hour or two. This was a marked sell-off given the stability of the market over the last couple of weeks. The price is now recovering, one would hope, with the current market at about $113.</div><div class="y_msg_container"><br></div><div class="y_msg_container">It is true that governments have little or no power to directly hurt Bitcoin, but I think they could in principle strangle the exchanges and make things difficult. In this case, DHS has apparently blocked a popular funding mechanism in Dwolla. Still not sure what is the legal justification. I hope (and believe) that it is not a general attempt by DHS to hurt the market for bitcoins.</div><div class="y_msg_container"><br></div><div class="y_msg_container">Gordon</div> </div> </div> </div></body></html>