[testific8]

In any case, I think this is a good thing. If crypto-currencies are regulated against, the remaining crypto-currencies must succeed on their technical merits as a currency (privacy, security, byzantine fault tolerance, speed, etc.) in order to evade regulation. So this would shift the focus towards systems like Monero, Zcash, and maybe even systems like GNU Taler that work alongside existing taxation/banking institutions.

[wallacoloo]

It’s true that there’s some lens to view it from where this causes positive things. Bitcoin itself is a fairly direct response to novel government action following 2008.

But it’ll set back adoption so heavily. There are a lot of applications in the space that only become feasible once adoption is so high, so development of everything above the base layer is liable to slow down significantly.