Mr Obvious here but the driving reason for any regulation is to collect taxes. Anything bought and sold by this many people and some of those people making huge sums of money no government Democratic or otherwise will let it go untaxed for very long.
A benefit of regulation will give more investor confidence (which again Mr. Obvious) brings more money. Also regulation brings potential lawsuits that "may" deter some scams. Some sort of protections are not all bad but there is line to all.