One of the core principles of Bitcoin is that it is a decentralized system. There is no governing authority over the Bitcoin platform. This ideology outlined in the original white papers played an integral part in its success. I believe that for many reasons, it is important to maintain this platform for any cryptocurrency. This means that at no point should cryptocurrency become regulated. I think that it is important to recognize that accountability and regulation are not always the same.  Cryptocurrency can by nature remain unregulated while at the same time allowing for individuals to be held accountable.

     There is a common misconception that cryptocurrency exists solely to facilitate criminal or nefarious transactions. The unregulated frontier of these new digital currencies brings a whole new area of consequences. There certainly are many real threats to having an unregulated currency. These threats can however be mitigated if individauls commit to identifying and neutralizing them.

     Privacy is an important part of cryptocurrency that should not be compromised. An individual waives that right to privacy any time they accept or send their cryptocurrency to an individual. Any individual with enough motivation could in theory act as their own authority to hold individuals accountable for their actions. The question should not be 'How do we regulate', but instead 'How do we hold individuals accountable for their actions'. It is up to each individual sending or receiving cryptocurrency to determine whether or not there is a need to do hold that individual accountable.