If there exist entities that both care about Bitcoin and want to end it (and have sufficient motivation and resources)
...then they will succeed, and there's no technological solution we can implement that will stop them.
There is no substitute for growth as a defence against such attackers.
I thought I will bring back the discussion to the original topic (gold vs.
BTC), using this very interesting post that fully applies to both
BTC and gold. Gold has started this year pretty promising, yet the rally got capped pretty quickly as soon as there was the risk of putting the confirmation of the bottom on the charts. And down we go with the gold (see again the underlined sentence).
Gold was attacked by outright banning possession for 2 generations until the general population forgot about gold's role as money. Today gold is regulated mostly to jewelry and central bank transfers. Without strong general public demand, it is easy for central bank's to manipulate prices.
Bitcoin is much more difficult to attack by banning possession, so they are left with regulation and compliance (for example tax compliance). The problem (for them) is greed is slowly taking hold with more and more people in positions of authority.
For example the ex-CEO of Credit Suisse recently stated "The only investment that demonstrably keeps its value over a long period is gold, and in future perhaps also bitcoins
Gold and Bitcoins production is limited. Not so with money. Central banks can print money limitlessly and these days they are telling us that openly. Its therefore no longer recoverable." There is a massive wealth transfer opportunity with bitcoin today and that is being recognized by more and more people, greed will protect the project.