True, but governments seldom attack if there isn't economic stress (WWII: Japan access to oil; German suffering under reparations; the U.S. worrying European debts from WWI would never be paid if Germany/Japan won, etc). There are many interesting ideas in your piece! I wish I could buy into the framework of pro-active governments; I see them as mindless. They react based on what their donors want them to react to.

So the question to me, why would the wealthy of the U.S. try to influence the government to control Bitcoin? I would think they like it just the way it is--tax-safe assets. I think you make a good point that they fear instability. The question is, how would the government control bitcoin without annoying its constituents (big money) with the potential for taxable hooks?