Canada, while being hailed as one of the best countries worldwide for Bitcoin businesses, is on record for having a hands-off and very open approach to the overall Bitcoin and digital currency phenomenon.

Still, the country recently appears to be moving toward more regulation. This would be in line with the country’s track record to steam ahead and then revert in order to please its southern neighbour, the overregulated and increasingly stagnant United States.

Whether or not it is good news then, the Canadian Senate is hearing witnesses and experts on Crypto currencies in order to decide future legislative action. Although the committee chairman appears to be enthusiastic and very open about economic and technical chances brought about by Bitcoin, the fact that at least some regulation will result from the hearings is bad news for Bitcoin already. For no regulation is always easier than some regulation, however well-meaning it may be. Had the internet been regulated or censored in the early 90s, it is doubtful that it would have evolved to the ubiquitous tool it is today.

Expert testimony delivered by Andreas Antonopoulos is included below (a full-length recording of the hearings). During his testimony, Antonopoulos made it very clear that the very structure of Bitcoin as a push payment system does not need any regulation and that imposing regulation derived from the conventional pull payment systems that are common today (banks, credit cards etc) would mean a fundamental misunderstanding of both Bitcoin and also the individual’s ability to act in their own best interest, generally without any government interference whatsoever.

 

©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.