bitcoin is really nothing but a penny stock with zero utility, its a stock with swings to play for gamblers, and nothing more. if any of you think the US government is going to just give up control of the monetary game (which is the one thing that keeps it in power) without implementing blitzkreig measures to keep it, you're fools.
granted, its a fun speculative game for us gamblers to play, but that's all it is. the moment it becomes any kind of threat to the US banking system, and more specifically the US dollar, the US government will destroy it. they'll make it completely illegal to use/have/hold... and while we 2% of fringers might resist, the 98% of the population who don't want to be outlaws will comply... and then bitcoin will be like heroin... valuable in the underworld but of little use in the real world. maybe valuable in the underground cash trafficking market, i guess, but not much better than those vehicles that already exist in that realm.