It does not need to be a coordinated attack - USA alone is enough to scare investors, sure the anarchists will stay with bitcoin till the end - but USA can destroy the exchanges.
mtgox is in Japan. But lets say they shut them down, the volume would be back, distributed among the rest of the platforms within a month, prices in 2 months.
Even if they manage to shut down all the popular exchanges (btc-e is in russia btw, good luck with that) there would be new ones after a week.
They can stop american banks talk to them - this would be enough to send the price in a down spiral.
That said - I don't really believe that they would do it before bitcoin starts the real disruption - the government machine cannot outlaw something that easily, it takes years to come to a reasonable legislation etc. But if stuff like what Falkvinge wrote about
http://falkvinge.net/2011/05/19/the-information-policy-case-for-flat-tax-and-basic-income/ happens then we'll see what the US government can and what it cannot. If until that time bitcoin has a lot of business going on it and not just the drugs and rhino horns - then this will be a fight - otherwise they'll crush the currency by undermining trust in it. A currency without trust is worthless.
Maybe, but In my opinion, I think that any official action the US government takes against bitcoin will simply initiate the Kenobi effect.
"strike me down and shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine"In essence, the mere fact that the US government would officially
recognize bitcoin as a threat would itself lend Bitcoin credence.
Aside from that, there is the Bureaucratic and legal jungle in which trying to outlaw bitcoin basically boils down to outlawing free speech.
But before that there's the task of even getting law makers to give a damn. These are the same people who lost
billions (
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/19/missing-iraq-money-may-be-as-much-as-18-billion/) and just shrug their shoulders. they're not going to give a damn about bitcoin's measly <200 million economy.
Trying to incite public outrage with "it buys drugs!" will be seen as just more
war on drugs rhetoric. The majority of US citizens see it as a monumental failure, and the political climate towards drugs is beginning to change anyway, what with Washington and Colorado legalizing marijuana.
Anyway, any direct action will just serve to promote it, people will read about it and they will see how awesome it is.
and they will want to use itI think the governments best shot at stopping bitcoin is ignoring it all together...
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