I think that much like we see with current fiat currency that if it is centralized by the government , I think people will not trust it - normal everyday consumers will likely adapt to it with no problem - but other countries may be less than impressed with centralized digital money - especially when you consider that our current ability to print money devalues it every year and other countries re taking notice and questioning the USD ability to remain the world reserve capital. China is trying to convince OPEC to accept YUAN instead of USD - if we have digital assets - there may be even less trust in the financial system and we could lose the position we are very tightly hanging onto right now -
that being said - I suspect that some of the ways they could maintain control would be to make it illegal to trade on anything other than a government exchange - they can even go so far as to pronounce all non government crypto to be considered counterfit money and illegal to trade -they could work with internet providers to block other exchanges - ther are many things they can do to squash the system - it may not affect demand in the long run but it could set it back several decades if big brother decides that this is their pool and no one else is can play in it ... look at what just happened with S. Korea...
I agree. At this point in time, I don't think Bitcoin or other cryptos represent a significant threat to the dollar or other fiats, simply because they have such a small market share. They just aren't used much as a currency, and are primarily a speculative investment right now. But as they integrate into the economy, this regulation or prohibition is a real threat many individuals refuse to acknowledge. With that being said, I do think that there are advancements in technology on the decentralized side of things that have and will be created in the future that will allow those that choose, to still use cryptos. But most of the speculative money will have left, unfortunately, and they will go back to what Bitcoin was a few years ago. Something techie libertarians bought, and something the dark web used.
Worst case scenario, of course.