http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2aycxs/hi_this_is_ben_lawsky_at_nydfs_here_are_the/

people are like "oh dear, we need better legislation" without realising
the foot in the door danger. it's like the used car salesman who rips
you off with an overpriced crappy car which you jump on after "he speaks
to the boss" (i.e smokes a ciggy), knocking down his initial high offer.
wow! what a bargain!

G8 magazine, June 2013 "Protecting digital economies": "If the leaders
of the European Union and United States could be convinced to take a
lead on these initiatives [banning Bitcoin], that would be a huge
contribution to making the internet a safe place for financial
transactions. At the same time, it would also strike a blow against
those who would try to destroy the fabric of our world’s well-being."

JP Morgan, Feb 2014 "The audacity of Bitcoin": "But followers of
financial history know the limitation of a system based on a fixed or
slow-growing money supply: it imposes uncomfortable financial discipline
on governments, households and corporates. [i.e governments, consumers,
the corporations" (goes on to talk about how printing dollars was used
to fund WW1 and the Vietnam war as a good thing)

ECB, Oct 2012 "Virtual currency schemes": "Authorities need to consider
whether they intend to formalise or acknowledge and regulate these
schemes. In this regard, a likely suggestion could sooner or later
involve virtual currency scheme owners registering as financial
institutions with their local regulating authorities. This is a similar
trajectory to the one PayPal has undergone, as it was granted a banking
licence in Luxembourg in 2007 after its service became popular. This is
not an easy step, but it looks like the only possible way to strike a
proper balance between money and payment innovations on the one hand,
and consumer protection and financial stability, on the other."

Mark my words. The problem is not with this regulation needing to be
fixed. They will probably tone down the proposal and it will be hailed
as a victory within the community, yet be another step toward
normalisation of their activities.

http://www.coindesk.com/ben-lawsky-friend-foe/

"The choice for the regulators is: permit money laundering on the one
hand, or permit innovation on the other, and we’re always going to choose
squelching the money laundering first. It’s not worth it to society to
allow money laundering and all of the things it facilitates to persist in
order to permit 1000 flowers to bloom on the innovation side.”

funny he's affiliated with chuck schumer too who is a populist and someone
who in the early days was very anti-bitcoin (silk road).

i love the whole tone of this propaganda piece which is like "he's such a
nice guy". I bet he has good manners too.

maybe you all appreciate this article,

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-dark-wallet-developers-plan-for-startup-governments-run-on-bitcoin