in this sense they can ban Bitcoin much the same way they ban guns without explicitly banning them.
Simply make it sufficiently difficult to obtain and utilize them to the point where alternatives are more attractive reducing the number of owners to ZERO, thus rendering political support to NONE.
This is the very point that is missed by most bitcoiners. All they see is, "You can't regulate or shutdown the block chain!!" But what they fail to see is, you don't have to. If no one is willing to use it, it dies on it's own. Why attack Bitcoin's strength, when you can attack its many weaknesses?
Because you would end up playing a global version of whack-a-mole. It wouldn't work. Going after it in such a way will only draw attention, legitimize the idea, and create resistance. Especially from anyone who has issues with the US.
Bottom line. This is new technology that works cheaper, faster, and more securely.
That is the intrinsic value. You just cannot roll back profitable technological evolution. This is the early stages, user friendly service is still being refined, but the technology isn't going anywhere.
