[kelp]

You regulate exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini, so there are no legitimate ways to trade your proof of work cryptocurrency for USD (or your local gov backed currency).

Then the demand for the crypto currency plummets.

In 2010-2011, I traded BTC for USD in person, with a laptop on wifi. And via PayPal with someone I met on IRC, where there was a bot that kept track of your reputation so the BTC sellers would know if it was safe to sell to you.

At that time the price of 1 BTC was about $1 USD.

I think we'd see something similar, if there was an outright ban.

[gruez]

On the other hand:

* cocaine prices aren't $1/kg, even after governments around the world banned it

* exotic/endangered species are still being traded for top dollars, despite anti-poaching and anti-trafficking regulations

* stolen art is still worth millions

[rspeele]

Those things are valued for more than their resale price.

The only reason I would ever want to hold a Bitcoin is that I trust that somebody else will give me something of value for it in the future.

If governments make it very difficult for me to exchange bitcoins for other things, its utility as a "store of value" gets lower. I'd rather store my value in stocks, real estate, gold, or whatever else. The regulation directly interferes with the use case.

On the other hand, all the regulation in the world doesn't interfere with cocaine's use case of getting you high. If governments could make it so that cocaine doesn't get you high, its price would certainly plummet.

[innagadadavida]

Another option is to levy wealth tax in bitcoin holdings. This is definitely less draconian that what you are proposing, but will achieve similar results.