This applies to all countries (more or less). Many countries could radically decide to forbid Bitcoin as the easiest solution for them. (When we see how they struggle to create adapted laws, for those who think that crypto needs laws).
A government cannot prohibit citizens from using Bitcoin, that is precisely the point of the article.
In fact, it can, if it is considered that it can verify directly at the source. Either by having access to bank data. (What is already in place by some governments for tax evasion and money laundering). I could also give the case of some French banks that blocked all transfers to Kraken. At the time, transfers were blocked until the account holder signed a release.
In short, what I meant is that as long as the citizen mixes cryptos with banks, yes, it can be easy to control its citizens.
But in this case, there is no point in running after a currency that is free of any government if in the end it still has its ticket to enter and control.
Can it stop a citizen from having a wallet at home? Can it prevent it from using a decentralized exchange? OTC? If he ever spends Bitcoin in a store can it intercept his merchandise? In the end, it's a lot of effort spent on nothing
If this happens in my country, I will continue to use it. But I'll think twice about whether justice can send me to jail. I don't want to go to jail just for a currency. I don't have time and I have responsibilities and a family too.
For a long time, I have been convinced that privacy coins will have a much more important place in the market. Demand will explode sooner or later, believe me. Horizen is one of those privacy-centric cryptocurrencies that militate for people's privacy.
Now, if privacy coins are banned, the question is always the same. How can a government really prevent a citizen?
Sometimes I wonder if Bitcoin could be a threat to the actual economy, by rebalancing the wealth and some other things but too long to explain what I think about.
It could also come from countries that are not necessarily dictatorships or similar. A country that thinks in this way (rightly or wrongly) that it can fight against anything that is laundering money and others. A country that does not want to get bored with tax issues...