I really question the whole "World Leaders" part of that statement. They may be seen as "leaders" but I see most of these people as "chair warmers". Regulation is only good if you truly understand what you are regulating. I don't see that from these people at all, I see fear and that is dangerous. We as a group, as crypto users and leaders, need to constantly push our message on why crypto is not a threat to these people if they embrace it. On the other hand, if they fight it, it will only go underground and become a weapon, and an unstoppable one at that.
It may be hard to believe that very often people expressing a strong opinion against digital currency don't understand the very basic concept of DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) operating in a peer-to-peer setup with no single point of failure. It cannot be controlled or destroyed - hence unstoppable.
The fascinating thing about this situation is that if they try and make it hardy to access and use, they will bias usage towards those who have no other alternative, which brings in a larger proportion of criminal usage. Then as a result, a large proportion of tools and services supporting its use will also be targeting the most profitable customer base, criminals. So attempting to fight cryptocurrency adoption increases the problem they are trying to avoid.
Accepting that a minority of people will use cryptocurrency for criminal activity, in exactly the same way that cash is used, would enable them to focus on how to encourage adoption with systems that favour those who are open about their transactions, such as those that accept cryptocurrency payments in exchange for legitimate goods and services.
And there are already strong drivers for the market to develop identity management systems based on blockchain technology. As this becomes available, people are likely to want to bind their identity to blockchain transactions for a variety of benefits. If you can prove it was you who paid for an item that becomes faulty, there's your receipt. If you must have purchased a product before you review it, there's your authentication. If your coffee shop introduces a loyalty card and includes previous purchases by cryptocurrency, there's your reward card with digital holes already punched in it. And if the majority of transactions using cryptocurrency voluntarily link their identities, the remaining transactions are easier to identify, and harder to conceal when they are then used in conjunction with patterns that already have identities.
So fostering an environment where cryptocurrency usage for legal products and services is favoured, results in less services focused on meeting criminal requirements, easier detection of suspicious transactions, and a greater ability to connect illegal activities with identifiable transactions. Once this is made clear to our powerful leaders, and they continue on their anti-cryptocurrency path, it will become clear that reducing criminal activity is their justification, not their aim.