Bitcoin is limited in its nature and has the ability to keep track record of everything, it cannot be manipulated as gold, silver, and anything that is based upon them, because it's not mathematically verified.
I see BTC as the new gold, and second layer networks would allow for a "fiat done right" solution for everyday usage.
The current Empire will either pick a big position in Bitcoin, or will put on a fight trying to destroy Bitcoin, there are no grays here to my knowledge.
However, it is subject to the simple manipulation that gold suffered under the gold standard: if the central bank has enough of it, it can keep selling it to keep the price constant. If a saver owns gold/Bitcoin, they have a return of zero and miss out on the interest payment of state-issued currencies.
(Of course, this will only happen after Bitcoin has reached a price much higher than today's.)
The blockchain tracks all transactions, yes, but no one knows who is behind each transaction. Only the Bitcoin addresses are public.