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Isn't this counter-argument equally applicable to silver or gold?

Well, the problem is you can easily trade gold for cash because it is socially acceptable to do so. If Bitcoin became outlawed, it would be very hard to exchange Bitcoin for cash, since it has no extrinsic value outside of being a financial asset (as compared to, for example, barrels of crude oil). That being said, I doubt Bitcoin will be outlawed in the West, and generally agree that it will be around for the long term.

> That being said, I doubt Bitcoin will be outlawed in the West, and generally agree that it will be around for the long term.

Well, not entirely without precedent, since private ownership of gold was outlawed nationwide in the US during the Great Depression. It wasn't fully legalized until 1974.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

This is an entirely new fact for me. It’s surprising to me that I’d never heard of this. Thanks for sharing!

Wait till you hear that the first chairman of the SEC was a notorious market manipulator who was hired by his friend FDR to prevent anyone else from doing the things that made him rich. He also happened to be JFK's dad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy_Sr.#Wall_Str...

That's why history repeats. Most people have no idea what happened a 100 years ago.

Yes.

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