[RamshackleJ]

the SEC shutting down centralized exchanges would be a short term shock to the value of BTC but long-term would be a disaster for regulators.

Decentralized P2P exchanges exist(bisq/hodlhodl), and shutting down centralized exchanges would force people to use those as the on/off ramps.

The best way for regulators to fight bitcoin imo is to slowly assimilate it into the legacy finance infrastructure to the point that it becomes similar to gold reserves, something only central banks and large institutions hold, while the public might only hold IOUs. Similar to what paypal is already doing.

[BitwiseFool]

I still maintain that if the government truly wanted to regulate cryptocurrency they would go after average citizens and add onerous reporting requirements. Even with decentralized exchanges, the government can still find a way to clamp down on citizens using cryptocurrency. Sure, it would be impossible to prevent someone from using a decentralized exchange, but would you personally risk being prosecuted for doing so?

[zionic]

You can walk into any major bank in the US with tens of thousands in USD cash, deposit it via deposit ticket with no ID, and have anonymous bitcoin/ether/monero in your account within minutes.

[mthoms]

Is this actually true? I find it very hard to believe you can do anything at a bank with tens of thousands of dollars in cash without presenting ID.

[x86_64Ubuntu]

The scenario isn't a problem I've ever had, but it doesn't make any sense. Unless you say, I want to deposit this money into account 12345.