> when all the payment processors decided they didn't want to handle donations to Wikileaks after the US government asked them to make that change.
On the face of it, this seems like the one legal use of Bitcoin, to circumvent situations where the government uses influence to block certain economic activity through words (a request to payment processors) instead of the threat of force (new laws).
However, the only reason that Bitcoin has any value to Wikileaks is because it can be exchanged for dollars to fund Wikileaks activity, and the only reason Bitcoin can be exchanged for dollars is because it is a medium of exchange for drugs. Without the drug market, Bitcoin would have little value, making it pointless to donate to Wikileaks.
On the face of it, this seems like the one legal use of Bitcoin, to circumvent situations where the government uses influence to block certain economic activity through words (a request to payment processors) instead of the threat of force (new laws).
However, the only reason that Bitcoin has any value to Wikileaks is because it can be exchanged for dollars to fund Wikileaks activity, and the only reason Bitcoin can be exchanged for dollars is because it is a medium of exchange for drugs. Without the drug market, Bitcoin would have little value, making it pointless to donate to Wikileaks.