The US war on bitcoin? Does the future of the music industry hang in the balance

Is Bitcoin really the future? A year ago, everyone believed it was. The media headlines (including our own) read something similar to this. “Bitcoin: the future of the music industry,” or “How blockchain will revolutionize the music industry.” It dominated headlines in 2018, however in 2019 as music-tech writer Cherie Hu pointed out, has been in stark decline. At least in the US. 

The reason for that has been quietly debated between a number of subgroups inside the music industry. Some speculation points to the passing of the Music Modernization Act and the formation of the MLC “sucking the air” out of any notion that the industry actually needs it. Others point to the fact that funding slowed considerably for companies utilizing the tech. After some digging, I have come to a conclusion that might have gone overlooked.

Maybe the US doesn’t want bitcoin. In music or any other industry.

Of Course that wouldn’t be the sole reason for the decline in media and funding, however, it wouldn’t be hard for the powers that be to set off a chain of events that would lead to these outcomes. Things like president Trump crypto rant back in July.

In the rant, President Trump makes some valid points. However, there are a couple of other reasons not mentioned as to why the US wouldn’t want Bitcoin to succeed.

The US vs Bitcoin: What do they fear?

The government can control banks and bitcoin doesn’t need a bank to work effectively. Bitcoin only needs those that want to use it for the tech to work. Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that only needs the parties involved in the transaction to go smoothly. For this precise reason, governments want to avoid Bitcoin from becoming mainstream.

“A lot of the US’s international Power comes from the fact that the US Dollar is the standard of international finance and transaction.” – Congressman Brad Sherman on his call to ban bitcoin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFN7XKd-20s

Fiat currencies like the dollar bill, have value because the government says they do. Using what is called the monetary policy governments can issue or even destroy money at will via central banks. With this level of economic influence, governments are able to track and influence currencies and wealth, as well as allowing them to collect taxes from it.

“Control over currency has many downstream impacts, perhaps most notably to a nation’s fiscal policy, business environment, and efforts to control crime. While each of these topics is broad and deep enough to fill volumes, a brief overview is enough to provide insight into the general concept.” –Investopedia 

BItcoin threatens how much control our current government institutions have over — well just about everything…

What does this mean for the music industry

For the companies trying to use bitcoin and blockchain technologies to solve the industry’s problems with transparency, there is a rocky road ahead. I believe the tech will be in use on small scales as companies try to navigate through the politics. The government will likely try their best to keep the tech from becoming mainstream until they can find a way to control it themselves and retain power. Admittedly this may not be a bad thing. 

A world where currencies are not controlled by government entities may sound like a great thing but remember the grass is always greener. As the government loses control of the money you can expect crime syndicates to take advantage. If the government can no longer track how and where the money is being spent, criminal organizations will be free to operate as they see fit financially. Chinese drug kingpins have already utilized the tech to get drugs onto US soil. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in fentanyl-based overdoses in the states. So in the case of fiat currency vs cryptocurrency, we have to quite literally pick our poison.