tl;dr: the last gasps of the Trump administration stand in violent opposition to Bitcoin. Eventually, their position will fade to dust.

One of my favorite entries from Blockchains in the Mainstream is Primavera de Fillipi’s.

She quoted the German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, as saying that all radical ideas go through three stages.

First, they are ridiculed.

Then, they are violently opposed.

Finally, they are seen as self-evident.

Even back in December, 2016, Primavera’s observation was that we had completed the “ridicule” phase of Bitcoin and blockchain. We were clearly in violent opposition.

First, it was folks like Jamie Dimon, whose bank has since changed its tune and begun the move into self-evident.

Today, however, it appears that parts of the US government, most notably Steve Mnuchin, remain locked in the violent opposition phase.

I bring this up because of Mnuchin’s proposed rule to require KYC (Know Your Customer) for all so-called “self-hosted” wallets, which is being met with fierce opposition.

Mnuchin, not surprisingly, is running the playbook based on American hegemony and the assumption that the dollar is the most important currency in the world. He’s right about the latter, of course, but that assumption appears to be getting old.

Still, the violent opposition comes from anything that threatens this position of reserve currency supremacy.

I don’t know how this will all play out, but with the first Bitcoin-holding Senator recently elected, it will certainly be interesting to watch.

Eventually, it’s self-evident.

For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas.