I think it is relatively irrelevant whether authorities crack down on it or not.
I agree, as long as the "crackdown" isn't so aggressive that even hodling is outlawed.
If only exchanges and service providers are affected by regulations (like in the EU AMLR) then Monero has a big advantage and that's its good availability of decentralized / P2P trading and swapping options.
And outlawing hodling in a democracy would need a law which could touch constitutional rights. It wouldn't be impossible but here applies what I also wrote several times about Bitcoin: the more people involved as XMR users, the less likelihood for a government to outlaw it, because that could decrease their voter potential. XMR is of course not anywhere near Bitcoin, and a major presidential candidate in a major world economy trying to capture votes with a pro-XMR/privacycoin policy looks utopic today, but every adoption step counts

It could thus be a good idea for XMR users and hodlers to tip your friends with a little XMR gift. And spread the word about XMR's potential to undermine authoritarian tendencies and help opposition movements in dictatorships.
BTW, the ATH of $542 is less than 10% away (until now, today's peak was about $513, currently $503-504). I'm quite convinced it will fall eventually. That will make XMR one of the very few altcoins which reached ATHs after 2021. And perhaps take it closer to the top 10, rising even more awareness.