[gota]

Not to mention that in that same decade crypto coins have failed at everything but item 1 the instant payment systems solved the problem of digital money transfer beautifully (and legally)

Yours is a great way to explain it. I'd say - bitcoin and siblings are 'inevitable' like drug trafficking, not like breathing air

[jrm4]

I really like this analogy, especially if you go deep on "drug trafficking," -- a corrupted, but not "wholly corrupt" activity that has potential to be legitimized and thus there may be a need to consider something other than "legal annihilation."

(as in bootlegging was also once drug-trafficking)

[carvking]

The government/big pharma just have a monopoly on drug trafficking.

Heroin bad/Codeine good. Prozac good/marijuana bad.

etc...

[jrm4]

My point exactly; Yes, "crypto" is useful for many presently illegal activities, but on its face, it is arguably "morally neutral," so you can reasonably throw it in with "encryption," "anonymity" etc -- potentially dangerous techs that the bad guys CAN use, but also important for freedom in the face of authortarianism.